Men's College Basketball
Rider University 79, Marist College 65
J. Thompson Grabs 1,000th Rebound
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY?In the battle for first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, four Broncs scored in double figures to lead Rider to victory at Marist Wednesday night. “It was a good performance by a lot of guys,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We're developing depth with this team.”
Senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 20 points and nine rebounds, including his 1,000th carom. “I knew I was getting close from the way the guys were talking, but what I'm happiest about is that grabbing a lot of rebounds helps my team win,” Thompson said.
Junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) scored 15 points, sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, freshman Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) scored 11 points and senior Kamron Warner (Pleasantville) came in off the bench to add nine points in eight key minutes, making three three-point field goals.
“Justin is really coming on,” Dempsey said. “He makes us a different team when he gets it going.” The point guard, Robinson had just one turnover in 29 minutes of action. “He looks like he has a steady hand right now,” Dempsey said. ?The guys have a lot of confidence in him. He is doing a great job kick-starting our transition game. Kam has come in now the last three games and given us big lifts. I'm excited about the way he has played.”
“Coach recruited us to shoot,” Warner said. “We shoot every day and we feel we can shoot, that's what we are good at.”
The Broncs entered the game ranked 17th in the nation in field goal percentage and shot 51.9 percent. Marist held its last three opponents below 30 percent shooting from the field.
Rider (16-6, 9-2 MAAC) never trailed in the contest. “We were able to get ahead and stay ahead,” Dempsey said. “This can be a tough place to play, but keeping the lead and good defensive rebounding kept the crowd out of the game. I thought we did a good job on the glass tonight against a good rebounding team.” Rider out-rebounded Marist 38-27, and is now 12-1 when it out-rebounds its opponent.
The victory is Rider's eighth in a row, the longest winning streak for the Broncs since winning eight straight during the 1995-96 season.
Marist (14-8, 8-3 MAAC) had won three in a row and eight of nine, and were 8-0 here in the McCann Center coming in.
Rider scored the last seven points of the first half, four by Jason Thompson, to take a 41-29 lead at intermission. Jason Thompson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a lay-up with one minute left in the first half. That rebound was his seventh of the game and the 1,000th of his career.
The 9-2 conference record matches Rider's best start in the MAAC. Rider began the 2004-05 season 9-2 in the MAAC and finished 13-5, good for first place.
Holding a 25-23 lead, Rider out-scored Marist 9-0, five points by Ryan Thompson, to take a 34-23 lead with 3:51 left in the half.
With the score tied at 15-15, Rider went on a 10-0 run to take a 25-15 lead with 6:21 left in the first half.
Rider also won eight in a row during the 1995-96, 1993-94 and the 1992-93 seasons, the longest streaks since winning 10 in a row in 1983-84. The 10th win in that streak was the East Coast Conference Championship game, an overtime win against Bucknell.
Rider has not lost since losing to Marist by one point on January 4. “That loss at home hurt,” Jason Thompson said, “so we really wanted this one. That motivated us tonight.”
Marist had won the last five meetings with Rider, after Rider won the previous five. The last time Rider beat Marist was February 24, 2005, 67-62 in Poughkeepsie.
Thompson entered the game needing seven rebounds for 1,000 and now has 1,002. Thompson has 1,782 career points, third highest ever at Rider.
Mansell was four of six from the foul line and has made 23 of his last 25.
Rider travels to second place Siena (8-2 MAAC) for a Saturday afternoon ESPN2 game. “The hits just keep coming,” Dempsey said, “and this was a good way to start this tough stretch.”
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