BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The men's basketball team faced a huge challenge in a duel of unbeaten regional foes Saturday afternoon and suffered a 101-88 loss at 'The Den'. The setback marked the first of the year for the Bears as they fell to 4-1 on the young season while the Purple Knights improved to 5-0 with their second consecutive win against an undefeated team.
 
Senior, captain Marcus Fleming (Linden, NJ) showed leadership as he posted season-highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the 2017-18 campaign. Safee Abdus-Sabur (Newark, NJ) came off the bench to chip in 13 points while the Bears leading scorer, Nick Davidson (Lumberton, NJ) had a sub-par day with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field.
 
The Bears fell behind 56-40 at the break as the offense failed to keep pace with Bridgeport's hot shooting (60.0 percent) during the opening stanza. The visitors employed a full-court press in the first half that led to Bloomfield shooting 42.4 percent from the field heading into the locker rooms at intermission.
 
The second half saw the Purple Knights go up by as many as, twenty-five (69-44) and although the home squad whittled away to cut it to thirteen by game's-end, Bridgeport flourished with six players in double-figures.
 
Next up for Bloomfield will be another regionally ranked team when they square off with the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) on Wednesday, November 29^th. The Bears will host their non-conference opponents with a  7:30 pm tip-off at 'The Den'.
 
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