OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Mar. 4, 2011) – After producing a final seconds rally to hold off Molloy on Wednesday, NYIT men’s basketball advances to the East Coast Conference semifinals where it will battle host-Bridgeport on Saturday, March 5 at 5 p.m.

 

FOLLOW ON THE WEB

Wednesday’s ECC playoff contest will feature live video and in-game statistics. Log on to nyit.edu/athletics and visit the men’s basketball schedule page for direct links to both live features.

 

ECC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

ECC semifinal action begins on Saturday, March 5 in Bridgeport, Conn., with No. 4 NYIT avenging last year’s loss against No. 1 Bridgeport at 5 p.m. No 3 Queens will then take on No. 2 C.W. Post at 7 p.m. The winners will advance to the ECC Championship finals on Sunday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m.

 

DÉJÀ VU

This is the second straight season that the Bears and Purple Knights will battle in the conference semifinals. In 2009-2010, NYIT defeated Molloy in overtime to advance to the round of four but ultimately fell to Bridgeport 76-50. The Bears were paced by Dominic Scurry’s (Ozone Park, N.Y.) 12 points and seven rebounds. However, the Purple Knight’s outshot the Bears 54.5% to 32.8% from the field and 52.9% to 50% from the charity stripe. After battling point-for-point in the first half, Bridgeport earned a 21-point edge midway through the second half and never looked back.

 

ALL-ECC

Sophomore Kayvon Roberts (Corona, N.Y.) earned his first seasonal honor as he was named to the All-ECC first team. Roberts started in all 25 games he appeared in and helped NYIT to a fourth place finish in the ECC. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward led the Bears in scoring, blocks and free throw percentage. He finished the regular-season ranked in league’s top-10 in scoring and top-15 in rebounding and blocked shots. On Feb. 14, he earned ECC Player of the Week accolades after compiling first collegiate double-double (22 pts, 12 reb.) and leading NYIT to an 80-75 overtime victory against Queens.

 

BEAR TRACKS

NYIT enters Saturday’s semifinal contest with a 12-13 overall record. The Bears earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament with a 10-11 ECC mark. All season long, the Bears have been paced by Roberts and Walker. Roberts leads the team with 14.0 points per game and 14 blocks. Walker adds 11.1 points per outing, along with a team-best 5.2 rebounds per game. Both players earned ECC Player of the Week honors during the season. Walker’s came after the first weekend of play, while Roberts recently earned his honor on Feb. 14 after leading NYIT to an overtime victory against Queens College. Junior Jahari McKnight (El Sobrante, Calif.) is most consistent behind the arc, shooting 41.9%, while Rodriguez has dished out 67 assists and is shooting 89.5% from the charity stripe.

 

LAST TIME OUT

Tied at 66-66 with 23 seconds to go in regulation, Scurry went end-to-end for a lay-up to put the Bears up for good. Senior guard Eric Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) then netted a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch to seal a 70-66 win against the Molloy an ECC Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday. Before rallying to take the lead, No. 4 seed NYIT trailed 64-58 with just over three minutes left. The Bears rattled off an ensuing 6-0 run beginning with free throws by senior Daniel Berg (Osteras, Norway) and fueled by back-to-back layups from Scurry to tie up the contest for the fifth time with 2:38 remaining.

 

SCOUTING BRIDGEPORT

The Purple Knights earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye after claiming the ECC regular-season crown with an 18-3 league record. Bridgeport is 18-8 overall. In their last outing, the Purple Knights edged the Pioneers of C.W. Post 67-65. Msoo Ikyatoor scored the final three points of the game to give Bridgeport the victory. On the season, Jermaine Washington leads the pack with 13.9 points per game, while Tim Cokley has grabbed a team-best 6.5 boards per game. The Purple Knights ride an eight-game win streak into the semifinals and overall have won their last 13 of 14 games.

 

SERIES INFO

Bridgeport leads the all-time series 17-15 after taking the 2010-2011 season series 2-1. NYIT opened the series with a 79-74 victory against Bridgeport on Dec. 11. However, the Purple Knights won the last two meetings 84-60 and 85-60.

 

 

About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in more than 90 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has more than 15,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

 

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 85,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

 

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Contact       
Sabrina Polidoro

Sports Information Director
O: 516.686.7504

C: 516.351.7664
spolidor@nyit.edu