Bridgeport Set To Open ECC Men's Basketball Championship On Saturday With Semifinal Tilt Versus Dowling

Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team will begin the quest for its third straight East Coast Conference Championship Tournament title and an automatic trip to the 2015 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Tournament on Saturday, March 7 on the campus of LIU Post in Brookville, New York, when the second-seeded Purple Knights take on the sixth-seeded Dowling College Golden Lions at 7:30 p.m. Dowling upset number-three seed NYIT, 82-74, on Wednesday night.  In Saturday's first ECC Championship men's semifinal, top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas will face fourth-seeded and host LIU Post, as the Pioneers defeated number-five seed Molloy on Wednesday night, 68-60.

Bridgeport swept both games during the regular season from Dowling winning, 102-89, on Long Island on January 20, and winning last week at home on February 24, 105-71.

The winners of Saturday's semifinals will face-off on Sunday, March 8 at 2:30 p.m. again at LIU Post for the 2015 East Coast Conference title and an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division II Championship Tournament which will begin on Saturday, March 14.

Bridgeport heads into Saturday's action with a 22-6 overall record, and the Purple Knights share the regular season ECC title with St. Thomas Aquinas at 17-3 in conference play.  UB and STAC split their two regular season meetings, but the Spartans took the tournament's top seed by virtue of a tie breaker based on records against other teams in the standings.  The Purple Knights also enters Saturday's ECC semifinal on a seven-game winning streak and winners of nine of their last 10 outings.  UB is also ranked number four in the East Region of NCAA Division II Men's Basketball In the final regional poll of the season that was released on Wednesday.

Dowling enters Saturday's action at 13-15 overall.

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