Men's Basketball Suffers Setback Against Bridgeport

PHILADELPHIA – After a close first half and tied 49-49 at the 14:53 run, a 12-0 run for the Purple Knights gave them the advantage for the rest of the period. The Rams kept cutting into the lead, getting as close as three points, but were unable to pull the comeback off as Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball (9-7, 3-3) dropped their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest to the University of Bridgeport (9-8, 4-2) in Saturday afternoon competition. 

WHAT HAPPENED 

• First half saw more shots taken by Bridgeport (15-of-38) but more efficient shooting by Jefferson (10-of-25). Most of the points for Jefferson came by free throws (12-15) while Bridgeport was 3-4 on the charity stripe in the first half 

• Being down 9-4 early on, Jeremiah Dorsey and Farouk Kaba hit three pointers to gain the lead over the Purple Knights. After Bridgeport made their layup, a returning Ashton Miller connected his shot from beyond the arc to make it 13-11 

• The Purple Knights secured an 14-4 run to get ahead 25-18 lead with 8:32 in the first half. The Rams rallied behind their own run, 11-4, off a five-point spree by Kaba, which included an and-one. The rest of the points came off free throws by Kaba, Justin Hawkins, and Sean Fullerton 

• After the contest was going down to the waning seconds before the half, Miller got the score and made his and-one attempt to put the Rams ahead 36-34 at the break 

• Second half saw a switch in shooting with Bridgeport being effective on the court (15-of-29) while Jefferson struggled in their shooting (10-of-33) 

• Early on saw both teams trade points back-and-forth as Fullerton hit a layup and Kaba connected on a three. Troy McGregor eventually gave them a lead off his shot from beyond the arc 

• The Purple knights began to go on a 12-0 run that got them in a double-digit lead. The Rams kept coming back slowly, with Jeremiah Dorsey connecting his three pointers while Miller and Hawkins made free throws, but were not able to get the lead in favor of Jefferson again as Bridgeport won 76-71 over the Rams 

TEAM STATS 
FG: 20-of-58 (34.5%) 
3PT: 8-of-32 (25.0%) 
FT: 23-of-27 (85.2%) 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE 
Justin Hawkins: 15 points on 3-of-10 shooting, 9-9 FT, 6 rebounds, 2 assists 
Farouk Kaba: 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting (2-7 3PT), 3-3 FT, 8 rebounds, 3 assists 
Ashton Miller: 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting (1-4 3PT), 8-10 FT, 9 rebounds, 2 assists 
Jeremiah Dorsey: 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting (3-6 3PT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson will now look to get out of the rut as they play in the Gallagher Center on Wednesday, January 22 when they face CACC South competitor and cross-town rival Chestnut Hill College at 8 p.m.