Men's College Basketball
Rider University 72, Iona College 64
NEW ROCHELLE, NY? They call it a shooters' mentality. If you're hot, keep shooting. If you are cold, shoot until you get hot. Junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) shook off a cold shooting streak to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Iona Friday night. “Shooters have to shoot,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “If you're a good shooter you have to keep getting them up.”
Harris Mansell scored a game-high 18 points, 12 in the second half, to lead Rider. “I challenged Harris at half time,” Dempsey said. “I told him I'd take him out if he stopped shooting.”
“Coach told me to keep my head up, to keep shooting,” said Mansell, who was just one for four from three-point range in the first half and finished four for nine. “My brother (freshman Patrick Mansell) got in my face a little bit, and that woke me up.” Patrick Mansell played 15 minutes off the bench and finished with seven points, making two of three three-pointers. “If he's going to get in my face he has to make those shots, and when he did that he helped me,” Harris Mansell added.
Iona led 57-54 before Rider went on a 12-0 run, five by Harris Mansell, to take a 66-57 lead with 3:20 left to play. That was the 12th and final lead change of the game.
Freshman Matt Griffin (Philadelphia, PA/St. Joseph's Prep) made his only shot, a three-pointer, and all six of his foul shots in 24 minutes off the bench. “Matt was tough,” Dempsey said. “If you are going to get a hard fought victory on the road you have to be tough, and Matt is a tough Philly kid. He's a winner.”
“Matt got us together,” said sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), who added 14 points before fouling out. “He wasn't about to let us lose. He took a big role as a leader tonight.”
“Matt was doing a good job of getting us organized, which is very important when they are changing defenses like that,” Dempsey said. “He was getting us into our offense.”
Trailing 44-37, Iona out-scored Rider 11-2 to take a 48-46 lead with 11 minutes left in the second half. “We didn't expect it to be easy, and it wasn't,” Dempsey said. “It was a hard fought, road MAAC victory. It wasn't the prettiest, but Iona had a lot to do with that. Their changing of defenses kept us out of our rhythm. When that happens you need to find a way to get out of here with a win.”
Rider out-scored Iona 13-4 to start the second half, six points by Harris Mansell, to take a 44-37 lead. “We called a play for Harris to start the half and he nailed it,” Dempsey said. “That helped get him back into a flow.”
Trailing 31-23, Rider out-scored Iona 8-2 to end the first half, five points by Harris Mansell, to cut the lead to 33-31 at the half.
Rider led 23-17 before Iona went on a 14-0 run, making four three-point field goals, to take a 31-23 lead.
Senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 15 points and 14 rebounds. The ?double-double' for Thompson was the 10th of the season and the 40th of his career. “Last year left a bad taste in our mouths,” Jason Thompson said, “and we wanted to get rid of that taste tonight.” Thompson entered the game sixth in the nation in rebounding (11.3), 19th in blocked shots (2.6) and 31st in scoring (20.2). “Iona was physical with us and made it hard for us to score inside,” Dempsey said. “They made Jason's life miserable.”
Rider out-scored Iona 15-4, five points each by the Thompson brothers, to take a 23-17 lead with five minutes left in the first half.
With the victory, Rider is now 5-5 away from home, 4-3 in away games. The Broncs have now won five of the last seven games and seven of the last 10.
The Broncs lost their last two games in New Rochelle after winning here during the 2004-05 season and lost four out of five here before this year. Last year Iona was 0-22 when it beat the Broncs, the last team in the nation to earn its first victory “Last year's loss here was motivation for us tonight,” Harris Mansell said. “I remember how bad a felling that was. We all had that in the back of our minds.”
The loss Friday night was the fifth in a row for Iona (5-12, 1-4 MAAC) after winning three straight.
Rider (10-6, 3-2 MAAC) hosts Loyola Sunday afternoon. “We're going to have to get the ice bags out tonight to get ready for Sunday,” Dempsey said, “because Iona gave us a physical battle.”
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