Men's Basketball Explodes In Second Half To Defeat NYIT At Home, 98-77

Bridgeport, Conn.-Leading by only three points, 42-39, at the half, the University of Bridgeport men's basketball team shot a blistering 61.1 percent from the floor (22-of-36) and scored 56 points in the second half, to grab a 98-77 home East Coast Conference win over the visiting NYIT Bears.  With the win, the Purple Knights' fourth consecutive victory, Bridgeport is now 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the ECC.  NYIT slips to 6-13 overall and 4-7 in conference action.

Junior Sam Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led UB in both scoring and rebounding on the night with 23 points and eight boards, plus he added a game-high five steals.  The 23 points are just two points shy of Sam's season-high of 25 which came at Southern New Hampshire University on November 19, 2016.

Joseph was joined in double figures by fur teammates, as coming off the bench, sophomore Rakim Lesane (Coney Island, N.Y.) had 16 points and senior Montana Mayfield (Philadelphia, Pa.) chipped in 14 points, plus starters Kyle Benjamin (Bronx, N.Y.) added 12 points and junior Carlos DeJesus (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed 10 points.

Benjamin also had a strong game on defense blocking seven shots and grabbing seven rebounds with one steal.

12 of the 13 players that saw game action for Bridgeport fund their way into the scoring column on Wednesday night,

NYIT's Jon Feiler led his team with his fourteenth double-double of the season, as he finished with game highs in points with 24 and rebounds with 13,

Up next, the UB men's basketball team is in action at Daemen College on Thursday, February 2 to open a three-game road trip.  Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.