UB Men's Basketball Sees Four-Game Win Streak Stopped By St. Thomas Aquinas, 87-85

Bridgeport, Conn. –The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night, as the visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans posted a hard-fought 87-85 East Coast Conference win over the host Purple Knights in a contest that featured 17 lead changes and five ties.  UB is now 13-5 overall and 9-2 in the ECC.  STAC moves to 12-8 overall and is also 9-2 in conference play.

In the opening half of action, the Purple Knights held their largest lead of the evening, 30-21, with 5:58 to play in the opening 20 minutes, but the Spartans finished the first half on a 15-5 run to take a 36-36 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, UB led 62-59 with 10:11 to play, but STAC would come back with a furious run to grab a 15-point, 84-69, lead with 3:12 to play.  Bridgeport would not go down quietly, as the Purple Knights would fight back to pull within one point, 84-85, with just 15 seconds to play, and down by two, 87-85, a desperation three-point attempt with one second to play by junior Ernest Rouse (Freeport, N.Y.) was off the mark.

Bridgeport was plagued by 24 turnovers on the evening.

Rouse led UB in scoring on the night with 18 points.  He was joined in double figures by senior Willie Williams III (Norwalk, Conn.) with 17 points, and juniors Devon Elliott (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 15 points and Jesse Jones (Irvington, N.J.) added 12 points.  Williams led the Purple Knights on the glass grabbing a game-high seven rebounds.

Seven STAC players reached double-digit scoring led by Chaz Watler and Alushula Odongo who each had 14 points.

The Bridgeport men's basketball team will look to get back in the win column when the Purple Knights open a two-game road trip at Mercy College on Saturday afternoon.  Tip-time in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. is slated for 2:30 p.m.