Men's College Basketball
Rutgers University 66, Rider University 62
TRENTON?Despite a career-high 22 points from sophomore Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) the Broncs lost to Rutgers in the Garden State Battle of the RUs at the Sovereign Bank Arena Wednesday evening. “I expected to win tonight,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “I know our guys expected to win. We're at a point right now where I think every night we take the court we expect to win, regardless of the opponent. Give Rutgers credit, they hung in there and they played better than we did in the last 10 minutes of the game, and that's winning time.”
Rider (3-2) led 60-57 with 2:07 remaining before Anthony Farmer made a three point field goal and Earl Pettis made two three-pointers to give Rutgers (5-2) the victory. Pettis finished with eight points and Farmer with seven. “I'm disappointed,” Dempsey said. “I think we let one get away. Pettis stepped up and made two big shots with the game on the line.”
Pettis and Farmer made those big shots while the Rider defense was concentrating on freshman guard Mike Rosario, who scored 25 points. “I don't think Rosario scored in the last eight minutes,” Dempsey said. “I thought one guy was keeping them in the game so we put a chaser on him and I thought we took him out of the game. Farmer and Pettis stepped up and Rutgers got out of here with a win.”
The Broncs trailed 53-52 before out-scoring Rutgers 8-4, four points by Ringgold, to take a 60-57 lead. Ringgold also had a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Broncs led 50-40 before Rutgers went on a 13-2 run, five points each by Rosario and freshman Gregory Echenique, to take a 53-52 lead with 7:07 remaining.
Echenique of Venezuela by way of Saint Benedict's Prep finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Rosario of Saint Anthony's High, is averaging 16.2 points per game.
“Our offense dried up in the second half,” Dempsey said after his Broncs shot 0 for 10 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes. “We're a good shooting team. We got clean looks, they just didn't go in the second half.”
Rutgers ranks among the national leaders in blocked shots and had eight more blocks Wednesday night, but Rider out-scored Rutgers 40-24 in the paint. “We knew they had the second best shot-blocking team in the country at this point and our philosophy was to go right at them,” Dempsey said. “We've scored more points in the paint than all of our opponents. Mike (Ringgold) was relentless tonight.”
“I knew they would block some shots because they are big, but I just kept trying,” Ringgold said. “I was playing hard and the ball started to go my way.”
Junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) compiled 15 points and six rebounds for Rider, while senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) added eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Rider freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), the two-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, played just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and finished with 10 points in 17 minutes of action.
Rutgers led 16-15 before Rider went on a 15-4 run, six points by Mansell on a pair of three-point field goals, to take a 30-20 lead with 3:14 left in the first half, and Rider led 36-28 at half time. “Give Rider credit,” said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill. “We have trouble with smaller, quick teams, but tonight we put ourselves in position to beat a very good Rider team.”
Rider out-rebounded the larger Scarlet Knights 44-31. “We pounded them on the glass with four guards almost the entire game,” Dempsey said. “That is a testament to our effort, our energy and our toughness. People were concerned about our size but I never was because I know we have a lot of heart, a lot of tough kids. It doesn't matter how big you are. Rebounding is 70 percent heart and guts.”
Rider and Rutgers have now met 14 times since the series began in 1947-48, with the Broncs winning for the first time in the series last year, 61-57 at the RAC.
The last and only other time Rider hosted Rutgers was the 1999-2000 season opener at the Sovereign Bank Arena, the first men's basketball game ever played in the SBA.
Rider is now 4-12 in the SBA.
Rider hosts Manhattan in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Sunday at 2pm in Alumni Gymnasium.
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