Men's College Basketball
Rider University 93, Manhattan College 80
Broncs Move Into First Place
LAWRENCEVILLE?Just six days ago Rider shot 65 percent at Manhattan and won by three points. On Thursday night Rider shot 65 percent against Manhattan and won by 13. The difference was the bench. “One of the things we want to develop is depth,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Junior Lamar Johnson (Scranton, PA/Scranton) scored a career-high 23 points off the bench, including 17 in the first half, to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Manhattan Thursday night. “When we have a guy that can come in off the bench and score 20 plus points we're going to be a tough team to beat,” Dempsey said. “Our starters have been consistent and we've been looking for consistency with our depth. When that is there, we look like a complete unit.”
“Rider is a very good team,” said Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen. “They have a lot of weapons, post play, perimeter scoring and bench scoring. The difference between tonight and six days ago was the bench scoring. Johnson had 17 in the first half, and that separated things.”
With the victory and a loss by Siena, Rider (14-6, 7-2 MAAC) moves into a first place tie in the MAAC with Siena and Marist. “There is a reason Rider is 7-2,” Rohrssen said, “because they are good.”
“Half-way through the league play we're in first place, so I feel pretty good about that,” Dempsey said. “We'll be playing to stay in first place every night now. Everybody is going to come in and give us their best shot. When you have a target on your back you better be ready every night.”
Manhattan (8-11, 2-7 MAAC) jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Rider out-scored the Jaspers 17-3, six points by Johnson on a pair of three-point field goals. Johnson made a career-high seven of eight three-pointers. “My teammates gave me the ball in the right place at the right time,” Johnson said, “and I thank them.”
Rider senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 20 points and 10 rebounds and his younger brother, sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 15 points. Ryan Thompson has now compiled 62 points over the last three games. The ?double-double' for Jason Thompson was the 12th of the season and the 42nd of his career. Jason Thompson now has 1,744 career points, fifth highest ever at Rider and 12 points shy of fourth place. Thompson now has 982 career rebounds, closing in on 1,000.
Holding a 56-40 lead, Rider went on an 11-6 run, six points by Johnson, to take a 67-44 lead with 12:30 left to play.
For the game, the Broncs made 14 of 20 three-point field goals and shot 65 percent from the field (34-52). “When you shoot 65 percent from the field at home generally you are going to be in control of the game,” Dempsey said, “and I thought we were throughout.”
Rider out-scored Manhattan 7-2 to start the second half, all seven by Jason Thompson, to take a 54-36 lead.
With the score tied at 20-20, Rider went on a 16-2 run, nine points by Johnson on three three-pointers, to take a 36-22 lead with 5:36 left in the first half, and Rider led 47-34 at half time.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Manhattan. The last time Manhattan won in Lawrenceville was during the 2002-03 season, losing the last five at Rider.
Rider is now 8-1 at home with four home games remaining. “One of our goals was to go undefeated at home this year,” Jason Thompson said. “We didn't get that done but still want to make it a very tough place to play for opponents.”
The 7-2 start in the MAAC is the best since Rider began the 2004-05 season 9-2 in the MAAC and finished 13-5. Rider was 7-1 in the MAAC in 2000-01 and finished 11-7.
With the victory, the Broncs have now won six in a row, their longest streak since winning seven straight during the 2001-02 season. “We want to keep it going,” Jason Thompson said.
For Manhattan, Chris Smith scored 22 points and Laurence Jolicoeur added 18.
Junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) was two for two from the foul line and has now made his last 16 foul shots and 19 of his last 21.
The Broncs travel to the Prudential Center in Newark to take on Saint Peter's Sunday at 2:30. The Rider-Saint Peter's game is the second game of a doubleheader, following the Seton Hall-Cincinnati contest that begins at 12 noon. “We're going there in first place, so we'll have a bit of a bulls-eye on our back,” Dempsey said. “We'll be getting everyone's best shot from here on out.”
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