Men's Basketball Ups Win Streak To Three With An 84-68 Triumph At Bloomfield
Two Big Second Half Scoring Runs Lift The Purple Knights To The Victory
Bloomfield, N.J.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team trailed by 16 points, 37-21, with 2:55 remaining in the first half, but the visiting Purple Knights began to chip away at the host Bloomfield College Bears lead to shave the deficit to eight points at the half, 39-31, before blowing away the home team by a score of 53-29 in the final 20 minutes to notch an 84-68 non-conference win. Bridgeport is now 4-1 overall, and the Purple Knights have won three games in a row. Bloomfield is now 3-3 overall.
UB opened the second half on fire going on a 13-2 run to take a 44-41 lead just 2:50 into the second stanza. The Bears then responded with a run of their own to grab a 50-46 advantage; only to see the visitors go on a 15-0 run to take a 61-50 lead which Bridgeport never relinquished.
Junior Hashem Abbas (Nablus, Palestine) led the Purple Knights with 16 points off the UB bench, and he also pulled down seven rebounds for the winners.
Abbas was joined in double figures by senior Bakary Camara (Harlem, N.Y.) with 15 points, freshman Ryo Kobayashi (Kanagawa, Japan) had 14 points in only 12 minutes of playing time as he knocked down 4-of-4 three-point shots, and fellow first-year Ashani Duncan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 10 points for the Purple Knights going 5-of-6 from the floor.
Camara led Bridgeport on the boards with eight rebounds, and he also blocked three shots and contributed three steals.
Abdallah Elsaleh led three Bloomfield players in double-digit scoring with 16 points.
Up next, the UB men's basketball team will return to the court on Saturday, December 7 at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pa. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m.