Bridgeport, Conn. - The University of Bridgeport captured its second straight East Coast Conference Men's Basketball title on Sunday afternoon at home, as all five starters reached double-figure scoring, as the second seeded Purple Knights topped the fifth seed St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans, 94-73. With the win, Bridgeport receives the East Coast Conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament which will begin next Saturday. UB will be making trip number 20 to the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament with an 18-01 overall record. Last season, the Purple Knights reach the East Regional Final. STAC closes out its season with a 15-14 record.
The Spartans grabbed a quick 7-4 lead in the game, but the victorious Purple Knights never trailed again on the afternoon after taking a 10-9 advantage at the 16:59 mark of the first half.
Bridgeport senior JoJo Swift (Brooklyn, N.Y.) earned his second straight ECC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award, as he scored 16 points and dished off nine assists and added three rebounds and two steals on Sunday after registering a double-double with12 point and 10 assists in Friday's win over Molloy. Also netting double-digit scoring the Bridgeport were senior Ivan Simic (Belgrade, Serbia) with 17 points, senior Sean Berry (Irvington, N.J.) with 16 points and senior Ognjen Zoric (Subotica, Serbia) plus junior Antoine Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 11 points apiece. Simic fell just shy of a triple-double with nine rebounds and six assists. Berry also chipped in eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Simic and Berry joined Swift on the 2014 East Coast Conference All-Tournament team along with Marcus Henderson and Omar Kellman of St. Thomas Aquinas plus John Petrucelli of Molloy and Darien Davis of Dowling.
Senior Omar Kellman, who reached the 1,000 career point plateau in Sunday's ECC Final, led the Spartans with 25 points. Kellman was joined in double figures by Aaron Cust with 12 points and Marcus Henderson added 10 points.
All signs point to the Purple Knights travelling to Southern Connecticut State University next Saturday for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional and possible facing the host Owls. Official 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball pairings will be announced tonight, Sunday, March 9 at 10:30 p.m. on www.ncaa.com.
All-Tournament Team
John Petrucelli - Molloy
Darien Davis - Dowling
Marcus Henderson - St. Thomas Aquinas
Omar Kellman - St. Thomas Aquinas
Sean Berry - Bridgeport
Ivan Simic - Bridgeport
Most Outstanding Player - JoJo Swift, Bridgeport
Provided by the Bridgeport Sports Information Department.
