OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Dec. 11, 2010) - NYIT men's basketball rallied from behind to defeat the University of Bridgeport 79-74 Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference action. With the win, the Bears improved to 3-3 on the season and 2-2 in league play, while the Purple Knights even to 3-3 and face their first ECC loss of the season, 3-1.

 

Sophomore Kayvon Roberts (Corona, N.Y.) led the game with 25 points, while senior Jerrell Walker (Stockton, Calif.) added 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Carl Kindborg (Stockholm, Sweden) rounded out the Bears double-figure scoring performances with 12 points, all on three-pointers.

 

For the Purple Knights, Jermaine Washington posted 21 points and Tim Cokley pulled down 11 boards.

 

Bridgeport dominated throughout the entire first half, despite NYIT knotting the score twice. About half of the Purple Knights scoring came from behind the arc. UB led by as much as 12-points, 37-25, with 4:53 left to play. A jumper from Washington closed out the first half with Bridgeport leading 39-32.

 

NYIT responded in the second half out-shooting UB from the field and at the charity stripe. However, it did not happen right away. Bridgeport held onto the advantage until the eighth minute when NYIT began to chip away at the gap. The Bears produced a 7-0 rally to knot the score 64-64 with 7:00 on the clock. The Purple Knights took the lead back on a jumper from Nick Daggett with 5:50 left but Kindborg responded with a three-pointed to put the Bears back on top.

 

The score was tied once more, 72-72, with 1:38 to play and from there NYIT went 7-2 to win the game 79-74 on free shots from senior Eric Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.).

 

The Bears return to action at the Caldwell Holiday Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 18 against Dominican College. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. NYIT then battles host-Caldwell College on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m.