Men's Basketball Earns CACC North Division Win Over Felician, 79-75

PHOTO GALLERY

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – In the first of two important divisional games against Felician over the next month, the University of Bridgeport's men's basketball team earned a 79-75 win over the Golden Falcons on Tuesday night. The victory improves the Purple Knights' record to 10-10 overall this season and 5-4 in the CACC.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Caleb Jacobs led the way with one of the best games of his career. The senior guard put together a stat line of 20 points (team high), six rebounds, six assists (team high), and a steal. He is currently slotted in the top-four of the CACC in both assists and steals per game this season.

Gabe Charleston joined in double figures with 12 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting. The Connecticut native led a UB bench that outscored Felician's bench, 34-8.

After the two in double figures, it was an extremely balanced effort from the home squad. Seven different Purple Knights contributed at least seven points in the win while five different players finished with multiple assists.

More bench production came from Jason Edokpayi, who piled up a game-high and season-high 14 rebounds to go along with eight points and a steal.

Edokpayi continues to lead the Purple Knights in rebounding this season at 7.6 boards per game (7^th in the CACC).

While the bench was instrumental, Jayson Handy provided a much-needed nine points in just his second start of the year. He made four of his six attempts from the field, including one of Bridgeport's six three-pointers in the game.

As a team, the Purple Knights outrebounded Felician by a 47-38 margin. UB entered the contest ranked first in the CACC in offensive rebounding and they added 21 more of those on Tuesday night. Remarkably, Bridgeport has now surpassed 20 offensive boards on five occasions this season.

The Purple Knights' rebounding and 17 forced turnovers allowed them to take 14 more shots than Felician. UB's defense ranks second in the CACC in both caused turnovers (19.9) and steals per game (10.8) this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing by one at halftime, UB took a one-point lead 45 seconds into the second half and never trailed again. The Purple Knights stretched their lead to as high as 14 points before Felician made it a tight contest until the very end.

Felician cut the UB lead to just one point on three separate occasions, including with less than a minute remaining in the game. Nick Traill would go on to make three free throws over the final nine seconds to close out the victory.

UB fouled Felician leading 78-75 with six seconds on the clock. After the Golden Falcons missed the first of a one-and-one, Traill put in one final free throw to ice the victory.  

Felician made six of its first eight three-pointers in the game before ending the contest at 7-of-19 overall. The Golden Falcons made just one three-ball over the final 22-plus minutes of regulation.

UP NEXT
The Purple Knights will be home once again on Saturday to take on Georgian Court at 3 p.m.