Men's Basketball Earns Program Record Seventeenth Consecutive Victory Topping New York Tech, 107-87
Hashem Abbas Stars Scoring A Career-High 44 Points
Old Westbury, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team set a program record with their seventeenth consecutive victory, as the Purple Knights topped New York Tech, 107-87, in an East Coast Conference road contest on Wednesday night. The current winning streak surpasses the 16 wins in a row the team posted two seasons ago.
UB is now 21-2 overall and remains unbeaten in the ECC at 13-0. New York Tech is now 6-19 overall and 5-8 in conference action.
Wednesday's win also gives the Purple Knights a bye into the East Coast Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals that begin on Saturday, March 7 at the University of the District of Columbia, and it is career win 390 for head coach Mike Ruane in his twentieth season on the Bridgeport bench.
Junior Hashem Abbas (Nablus Palestine) starred for the winners as he scored a career-high 44 points hitting 18-of-25 field goals including going 7-of-9 from behind the three point line. Hashem's previous career high was 29 points set on Saturday at UDC.
Abbas was joined in double figures by senior D'Vonne Trumbo (Pilesgrove, N.J.) with 16 points, and fellow junior Juan Coffi (Barcelona, Spain) finished the night with 10 points. Trumbo finished with four assists, and Coffi notched five of the Purple Knights' 18 total steals as they forced a total of 27 New York Tech turnovers.
Junior Nemanja Zubac (Becka Palanka, Serbia) led Bridgeport on the glass with six rebounds.
Wednesday's 107 points mark the fifth time this season UB has topped the century mark in scoring.
Jeffrey Hayden led the Bears with 30 points in a losing effort.
Up next, the UB men's basketball team plays its final road game of the regular season traveling to Molloy College on Saturday looking to up its winning streak to 18 games. Tip-off in Rockville Centre, N.Y. is set for 2:00 p.m.