Men's Hoops Suffers Only Its Second Loss Of The Season Falling At Home To Roberts Wesleyan

Bridgeport, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport men's basketball team suffered only its second loss of the season on Friday night, as the host Purple Knights fell to the visiting Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks, 85-82.  UB is now 8-2 overall and 2-1 in East Coast Conference play.  RWU raises its overall mark to 9-3, and its conference record to 2-1.

After the Purple Knights tied the score at 82-82 on a pair of free throws by Eric Rankin (Jr., Bronx, N.Y.) with 51.8 seconds to play, the Redhawks held UB scoreless the rest of the game and managed to hit three free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.

The visitors were hot from the floor all evening long connecting on 55.6 percent of their field goals (30-of-54), while Bridgeport hit 41.7 percent of its shots (32-of-77).

Free throws played a big part in the win for the visitors, as Roberts Wesleyan went 20-of-33 from the foul line, and Bridgeport was only 7-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Rankin and sophomore Bakary Camara (Bronx, N.Y.) led Bridgeport in scoring on the night, as they each registered 19 points.

Junior Vakas Iqbal (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 11 points and senior Sam Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 10 points also reached double figures for the Purple Knights.

RWC's Isaiah Lewis led all scorers on the night with a game-high 26 points.

The UB men's basketball team is back in action on Sunday when they host the Wildcats of Damen College in an ECC contest.  Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.