Big Rally By UB Men's Basketball Comes Up Shy In Overtime Loss To Alliance in '22-23 Home Finale
Matt Turner Leads The Purple Knights With A UB Career-High 31 Points
Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team trailed by as many as 19 points with 6:36 to play in the first half and came back to take a 14 point lead with 9:21 to play in the second half, but the host Purple Knights closed out their 2022-23 home schedule on Tuesday night with a frenetic 105-98 overtime home loss against Alliance University in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game. UB is now 10-15 overall and 6-10 in the CACC. Alliance moves to 12-14 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
Alliance led 45-36 at the half, only to see the Purple Knights post a 56-47 advantage in the second half to send the game to bonus basketball tied 92-92. The visitors would then go on to outscore the hosts 13-6 in the extra five minutes to earn the 105-98 victory.
Free throws played a key part in the win for Alliance, as they went 24-of-35 from the charity stripe compared to UB shooting just 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Graduate student Matt Turner (Trumbull, Conn.) led the Purple Knights with a UB career-high 31 points. He was joined in double figures by three teammates, as senior Ali Sumareh (Bronx, N.Y.) hit 10-of-13 field goals to score 20 points, senior Mason Williams (Voorhees, N.J.) reached double digits for the ninth straight game with 13 points and junior Ryo Kobayashi (Kanagawa, Japan) chipped in 10 points.
Alliance's Joel Bailey led all scorers on the night with 35 points.
Up next, the UB men's basketball team closes out the regular season with a two-game road swing beginning on Saturday at afternoon at Felician University. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in East Rutherford, N.J.
PHOTO BY CLARUS MULTIMEDIA