Men's College Basketball
Rider University 68, Iona College 63 (ot)
LAWRENCEVILLE? It wasn't pretty, with 50 turnovers between the two teams, but the Broncs will take it. “If you are going to have a special season, you need to grab some of these along the way,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “Once you get into the league play, it's not always going to be pretty, you aren't always going to feel like you played your best, but it really doesn't matter anymore. It is about the end result, winning or losing.”
Junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) scored 21 points, seven in overtime, and sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 20 points, to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Iona Monday night. “Just a MAAC war,” Dempsey said.
The victory was the fifth in a row for Rider (13-6, 6-2 MAAC) and eighth in the last 10 games.
Mansell made a three-point field goal to give Rider a 61-58 lead with 3:41 left in the extra period. That was the seventh and final lead change of the game. Mansell's two foul shots with 12.9 seconds remaining gave the Broncs a 66-61 lead.
Ryan Thompson scored a lay-up at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, tied at 56-56. Iona's Gary Springer made one of two foul shots with 5.5 seconds left for a 56-54 Iona lead. “In the huddle coach told me to get the rebound and go, and I went,” said Ryan Thompson, who went coast to coast in the final seconds of regulation.
For Iona (7-13, 3-5 MAAC), Kyle Camper made a jumper with 23 seconds left in regulation to give Iona a 55-54 lead, and Camper finished with a team-high 18 points, while Springer had 10 points off the bench.
Rider trailed 53-50 before senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) scored a lay up and Mansell made two foul shots to take a 54-53 lead with 1:24 left, Rider's first lead since half time. Jason Thompson, who averages 20.4 points per game, was held to 11 points, his lowest point total of the season and the lowest since scoring nine points against Notre Dame last season.
“They are a very good defensive team, pressing from start to finish,” Dempsey said. “One of the things that pressing does is takes you out of your half court game. Jason handles the ball so well that when we are being pressed we often have Jason help bring the ball up, and that takes him out of the post. We didn't have him in the post enough to get him as many touches as usual. Jason did what we asked of him tonight, to help bring the ball up the court.”
“Jason is a great player,” said Iona head coach Kevin Willard, “but to be honest, we worry more about Ryan than we do Jason. Ryan has turned himself into a very dangerous weapon, offensively and defensively. He's just as dangerous as Jason is.”
“When I got those two early fouls it got me out of rhythm, less aggressive, which is not my game,” said Jason Thompson. “Give Iona credit. I just had an off day, but when that happens, I know guys like Ryan and Harris are going to step up.”
Trailing 47-40, Rider went on a 7-0 run, five points by Ryan Thompson, to tie the score at 47-47 with 6:00 left. “When your team is not playing well you need your best players to step up take the bull by the horns a bit,” Dempsey said. “Ryan did a great job down the stretch. We don't get out of here with a win unless Ryan steps up late in the game.”
With the score tied at 31-31, Iona went on a 12 -5 run to take a 43-36 lead with 12 minutes remaining. “We certainly hope to play better than we played tonight,” Dempsey said, “but at the same time, the last eight minutes when we looked down and out, had nothing going, we found a way to play hard and gut it out.”
“Give Rider a lot of credit,” Willard said. “They did a terrific job fighting back, clawing back.”
Trailing 10-2, Rider went on an 11-2 run, five points by Mansell, to take a 13-12 lead, and Rider led 24-22 at the half.
Rider defeated Iona by eight points (72-64) on January 11 in New Rochelle, but Monday night the Gaels jumped out to a 10-2 lead, eight points by Kyle Camper.
The victory was the 100th for Rider in MAAC regular season play (100-88).
With the victory, Rider has now won five in a row, the longest winning streak for the Broncs since the 2001-02 season when Rider won seven straight games between January 17 and February 8. Rider has now won eight of the last 10 and 10 of the last 13 games.
The last time Rider was 6-2 in the MAAC was 2004-05 when Rider began the season 9-2 in the MAAC and finished 13-5.
Rider is now 7-1 at home with five home games remaining. The Broncs were 7-5 at home last season. Rider was 9-1 at home in 2001-02, 10-2 at home in 2000-01 and 13-1 at home in 1992-93.
Jason Thompson now has 1,724 career points, 11 points shy of fifth highest ever at Rider, and has 972 career rebounds as he closes in on the 1,000 rebound total.
The Broncs host Manhattan Thursday night. Rider beat Manhattan by three points (85-82) on January 19. It is expected to be just another MAAC war.
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