Brookville, N.Y. - For the third consecutive season, the University of Bridgeport men's basketball team has captured the East Coast Conference title, as the second-seeded Purple Knights took the 2015 crown with a heart-stopping, 82-78, over the top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans on Sunday afternoon on Long Island. UB will head into the NCAA Division II National Championship with an overall record of 24-6 and on a nine-game winning streak. STAC closes out an impressive 2014-15 season at 21-11 overall.
This will be Bridgeport's 21st trip to the NCAA National Tournament, and the ninth under current head coach Mike Ruane, who is in his fifteenth season at the UB helm.
With Sunday's game tied at 76-76, Bridgeport senior Willie Williams III (Norwalk, Conn.) hit a pair of free throws to give the Purple Knights a 78-76 lead which they never relinquished with 43.8 seconds to play. Williams, who was named the championship's Most Outranking Player finished with a double-double on Sunday scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Willie now has 12 double-doubles so far in 2014-15.
UB junior Jesse Jones (Irvington, N.J.), who led all scorers on the day with 28 points, would hit two pairs of free throws with 11.2 and 3.0 second remaining to ice the win for UB.
Juniors Eddie Asamoah (Calgary, Canada) and Devon Elliott (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had strong games for the winners on Sunday, as they each scored nine points and had 11 rebounds.
Jones and Elliott joined Williams on the 2015 All-Tournament Team.
Justin Reyes led STAC with 22 points on the day.
Bridgeport will now await its opponent in the 2015 NCAA Division II East Regional. Pairings will be annpounced tonight at 10:30 p.m. on www.ncaa.com.
Provided by the Bridgeport Sports Information Department.
