Bakary Camara's Tip-In As Time Expires Lifts UB Men's Basketball To A Comeback 87-85 Win At St. Thomas Aquinas

Sparkill, N.Y.-A tip-in by senior Bakary Camara (Harlem, N.Y.) after a missed free throw as time expired lifted the University of Bridgeport men's basketball team to a comeback, 87-85, road win over the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans on Wednesday night. 

The visiting Purple Knights trailed 48-37 at halftime, and by 16 points, 53-37, with 17:56 to play in the game after STAC scored the first five points of the second half, but UB outscored the Spartans by a 50-37 margin in the final 20 minutes to earn the hard-fought victory.

With the win, Bridgeport has now won 11 consecutive games, as the team moves to 15-2 overall and remains unbeaten in conference play at 7-0.  The 15-2 start is the best ever beginning to a season for the program surpassing the 1975-76 squad that opened the year at 14-2.

St. Thomas Aquinas is now 16-3 overall and 6-1 in the ECC.

Wednesday's clash was a match-up of nationally ranked NCAA Division II team's as Bridgeport came into the game ranked number 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches; while STAC check in at number 10 in the country.

UB junior Juan Coffi (Barcelona, Spain) finished the night as the game's leading scorer netting a Bridgeport career high 23 points off the Purple Knights' bench.  Coffi went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free line in the game.

Along with his game-winning hoop, Bakary Camara finished with an impressive double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.  He also had a fine all-around game on Wednesday adding three assists and three steals for the winners.

Junior Hashem Abbas (Nablus, Palestine) with 14 points, and senior D'Vonne Trumbo (Pilesgrove, N.J.) with 12 points rounded out the UB quartet of players in double figures on Wednesday. Trumbo also grabbed eight rebounds on the evening.

Louis Griffin, Grant Singleton and Osbel Carabello led the Spartans in scoring, as they each had 17 points.

Up next, the Bridgeport men's basketball team will look to move its winning streak to 12 games on Saturday, when the Purple Knights travel to Mercy College for an East Coast Conference tilt that begins at 2:00 p.m.