Bridgeport, Conn. - Tournament Most Outstanding Player JoJo Swift (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a game-high 17 points, connecting on six-of-nine field goals coming off the University of Bridgeport bench, to help lead the number-one seeded Purple Knights to the 2013 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Conference Championship Tournament title and an automatic bid in next week's NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, with a hard-fought 61-53 home win over the scrappy number six seed Dowling College Golden Lions. Bridgeport heads to the NCAA Tournament with 21-9 record, and Dowling closes out its 2012-13 season with a 13-16 mark. This year will make seven NCAA trips under head coach Mike Ruane and the nineteenth in school history for UB.
Neither team shot the ball well in Saturday's ECC Championship tilt, as the Purple Knights went 21 of 63 from the floor (33.3%, and the Golden Lions hit only 16 of 47 field goal attempts (34.0%). Bridgeport did shoot a respectable 37 percent from three-point range (10 of 27); while DC connected on only 5-of-22 (22.7%) from long distance.
In the first half, Dowling led 22-21 with 7:23 to play, but the Purple Knights closed the first 20 minutes on a 13-3 run to take a nine-point, 34-25 halftime lead.
In the second half, Bridgeport extended its lead to 18 points, at 45-27 to play, only to see Dowling battle back to cut the deficit to only four, 57-53 with 32 seconds to play, before UB iced the game with five free throws while the Golden Lions would not score again.
JoJo Swift was joined in double-digit scoring for Bridgeport by junior Ivan Simic (Belgrade, Serbia) and senior Darian David (Bronx, N.Y.) with 22 points. Senior Dion Waiters (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a double-double for the Purple Knights with 11 assists and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Juniors Corwin Austin and Leon Taylor led Dowling in scoring as they each netted 10 points. Taylor also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Swift was joined on the 2013 ECC Men's Basketball Championship All-Tournament team by Molloy's John Petrucelli, NYIT's Azel Prather, Jr., Dowling's Josh Malone and Leon Taylor plus teammates Dion Waiters and Darian David.
Provided by the Bridgeport Sports Information Department.
