Three Purple Knights Reach Double Figures But Men's Basketball Falls At St. Thomas Aquinas

Sparkill, N.Y.-Three players reached double figures for the University of Bridgeport men's basketball team, but the host St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans hit 55.4 percent of the field goal attempts in the game going 41-of-74 from the floor on the night, as STAC topped UB, 97-74 in East Coast Conference action on Friday night.  UB is now 3-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play, and STAC moves to 9-3 overall and 2-0 in the ECC.

Friday's first half was a 20-minute span of runs, as the Purple Knights opened the game with a 5-0 lead, only to see the Spartans double them up with a 30-15 run to take a 30-20 lead with 6:13 to play in the opening stanza.  Bridgeport would then go on a 10-0 to knot things up at 30-30 with 3:49 to play in the first half, but STAC closed the opening period on 12-2 run to take a 42-32 lead at the half.

The Spartans put the game away early in the second half as they began the final period with a 15-4 run in the first four minutes of play to take a 57-36 from which they never looked back from.

Sophomore Tim Dawson (New Haven, Conn.), who scored his team's first 11 points in the game, led the Purple Knights with 19 points on Friday.  He was joined in double figures by juniors Malcolm Moye (Hartford, Conn.) and Mason Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.), who finished the contest with 16 and 10 points respectively.  Moye finished just shy of a double-double grabbing a team-best nine rebounds.

Jamal Barnes of St. Thomas Aquinas led scorers in the game and four Spartans in double figures on the night with 22 points.

Up next, the UB men's basketball team returns to Hubbell Gym, as the Purple Knights will host Mercy College in an ECC contest on Sunday afternoon.  Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m. in the Park City.

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANOZIO