Quick Start To The Second Half Helps Men's Hoops Put Away Host Mercy, 84-65

Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.-After suffering a tough two-point home loss against St. Thomas Aquinas College on Thursday night which snapped a four-game winning streak, the UB men's basketball team got right back in the win column on Saturday afternoon defeating the host Mercy College Mavericks, 84-65, in East Coast Conference play.  UB is now 14-5 overall and 10-2 in the ECC.  Mercy falls to 7-11 overall and 2-10 in conference play.

After trailing for most of the first half, Bridgeport grabbed a 36-34 halftime lead when junior Devon Elliott (Brooklyn, N.Y.) connected on a three-pointer just before the buzzer.  Elliott finished with 17 points on the day.

The Purple Knights would feed off the momentum of taking that halftime time led by blitzing the host Mavericks with a 17-0 run to open the second half to take a 53-34 which they would never look back from.

Bridgeport shot the ball extremely well in Saturday's victory hitting 32-of-53 field goals (60.4%), including knocking down 8-of-15 three-point shots (53.3%).  UB also hit 12-of-15 free throws (80.0%).

Junior Ernest Rouse (Freeport, N.Y.) led the winners in scoring on Saturday with 22 points.  Classmate Eddie Asamoah (Calgary, Canada) had a strong game with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Senior Naqwan Crowell (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points.

UB senior Willie Williams III (Norwalk, Conn.) fell just shy of double figures scoring nine points and grabbing seven boards.

Jeremiah Brown led the host school with 22 points.

The UB men's basketball team is next in action on Wednesday night at LIU Post.  ECC play on Long Island is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.