Men's College Basketball
Rider University 84, Lafayette College 77
EASTON, PA?For the second straight game, Rider came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to pull out a victory on the road. “I'm proud of the way we competed,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We have a group of fighters and when our backs are against the wall sometimes we play our best basketball.”
On Thursday, Rider trailed Lehigh by 13 points in the second half and came back to win, 69-68. On Sunday, junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) scored 25 points, 22 in the second half, to lead Rider to victory at Lafayette.
“I knew if we were going to get out of here tonight with a win Ryan was going to have to take the game over,” Dempsey said. “I challenged him at half time.”
“It was intense down the stretch,” Thompson said. “Coach challenged me at half time to be more aggressive and I took it to heart and wanted to come out and lead our team to victory.”
Trailing 67-52, Rider (2-1) went on a 12-2 run, eight points by Thompson, to cut the lead to 69-64 with 5:35 left to play.
Lafayette (2-2) led 76-68 before Rider out-scored the Leopards 15-0, six by Thompson, taking an 83-76 lead.
A lay-up by Thompson with 1:30 left gave Rider a 77-76 lead, Rider's first lead since 21-18 mid-way through the first half.
A steal and dunk by freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) with 32 seconds remaining gave the Broncs a 79-76 lead. Gadson finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals. “Novar gave us some big steals down the stretch and his dunk put the game away,” Dempsey said. “Novar is one of the best freshmen in the MAAC. He's a tough kid who is not fazed by the situation.”
Senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham), who injured the elbow on his right (shooting) arm in the first two minutes of the second half in the Saint Joseph's game November 14 and hadn't played since, started and compiled 20 points. “We didn't know if Harris was going to play until after practice Saturday night,” Dempsey said.
Rider jumped out to a 10-2 lead, six points by Mansell on a pair of three-point field goals. The second three-pointer gave him 1,000 career points. “My elbow was still hurting in practice, but once the game starts you don't think about it so it doesn't hurt,” Mansell said.
Trailing 16-5, Lafayette went on a 19-5 run, five points by Ryan Willen, to take a 24-21 lead with 7:30 left in the first half. Willen finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. “We were out of sync early,” Dempsey said. “We were not in a good rhythm. We're still learning to play together, just three games in and with all of the injuries we have had. We haven't practiced together very much as a group and I think that showed in the first half.”
Holding a 34-30 lead, the Leopards scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 41-30 lead at intermission.
For Lafayette, Jeff Kari scored 21 points, making all eight of his foul shots, while Jared Mintz added 16 points.
Sophomore Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) played 17 minutes for Rider, his first action of the year after a knee injury, and compiled four points and four rebounds. “Justin played hard, but it looked like he hadn't played in a month,” Dempsey said.
Rider out-rebounded Lafayette 40-37, including 11 rebounds by Thompson, but made just 14 of 25 foul shots. “We've struggled from the foul line, but we made them down the stretch when we needed to, when they counted the most,” Dempsey said.
Rider and Lafayette have now met 75 times, with the Leopards holding a 39-36 advantage in the series that began in 1943-44. Rider and Lafayette were Middle Atlantic Conference (early 1970s) and East Coast Conference (1974-90) rivals. The last time these two teams met was January 2, 2002, an 86-66 Rider victory at Lafayette.
Rider has now won the last seven meetings and nine of the last 10. The last time Lafayette defeated Rider was during the 1989-90 season.
Rider hosts Cal State Northridge in the home opener Saturday, November 29. Rider played at Northridge last year in the ESPNU BracketBuster. “Northridge is picked by everyone to win the Big West,” Dempsey said. “I'll be surprised if they are not an NCAA tournament team this year. That will be a great challenge for us in our home opener.”
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