Purple Knights Grind Out 63-53 ECC Men's Basketball Win At LIU Post
Purple Knights Now 15-5 Overall And 11-2 In Conference Play
Brookville, N.Y.-It was not the prettiest of games, but the University of Bridgeport men's basketball team will certainly take a big East Coast Conference road victory, as the Purple Knights persevered despite shooting only 30.3 percent from the field (20 of 66) to grind out a 63-53 win over the host LIU Post Pioneers on Wednesday night. With the win, the Purple Knights are now 15-5 overall and 11-2 in the ECC, and the team will remain in at least a tie atop the conference standings. LIU Post slips to 10-10 overall and 5-7 in conference play.
UB offset its poor shooting night by forcing 18 Pioneer turnovers, off which the Purple Knights would score 20 points. The 53 points scored by LIU Post is also a season low for a Bridgeport opponent in 2014-15.
Trailing 24-16 with 4:54 to play in the first half, the Purple Knights would close out the first 20 minutes of play on a 15-2 run to take a 31-26 lead at the break.
LIU Post would come back to tie the game at 37-37 with 13:00 to play, but the UB would then storm off on an 11-3 run in over the next 2:15 to take a 48-40 lead which the team would never relinquish.
Juniors Devon Elliott (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Jesse Jones (Irvington, N.J.) led Bridgeport in scoring on Wednesday, as they each netted 15 points. Elliott scored all of his 15 in the first half, and Jones poured in 12 of his points in the second half.
Senior Willie Williams III (Norwalk, Conn.) also reached double figures for the Purple Knights with 12 points, and junior Eddie Asamoah (Calgary, Canada) was just shy of a double-double in the win grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring nine points.
Tyuan Williams led the Pioneers with 14 points on the night.
Up next for the UB men's basketball team is a home meeting with NYIT on Saturday in Hubbell Gym. Tip-off is set for approximately 3:00 p.m.