Men's College Basketball
Rider University 73, Cal State Northridge 72
NORTHRIDGE, CA? Third time's the charm. Competing in their third Bracket Buster game, the Broncs defeated Cal State Northridge Saturday evening as part of the sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU Bracket Busters, televised live on ESPNU.
Rider lost its first two Bracket Buster games, at Northeastern in 2006 and to Murray State last season. “It was a tough fight,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) made a foul shot with six seconds left to give Rider the victory. R. Thompson finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Trailing 67-62 with 4:40 remaining, Cal State Northridge (18-7), currently in first place in the Big West (10-2), out-scored Rider 10-5, all 10 by junior guard Josh Jenkins, to tie the score at 72-72 with 28 seconds remaining. “Northridge's guards were just terrific,” Dempsey said. “They made play after play after play down the stretch, and we just couldn't shake them.” Jenkins scored a career-high 21 points, 17 in the second half.
Rider (19-9), currently tied for first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (11-5), was led by junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham), who made a career-high five three-pointers and finished with 21 points, tying his career high. “Harris made some huge shots and really helped carry us down the stretch,” Dempsey said.
Three times in the final six minutes Cal State Northridge cut the lead to two points, 62-60, 69-67 and 72-70. The first two times Mansell answered with a three-point field goal.
Trailing 61-53, the Matadors out-scored Rider 7-1, four points by Deon Tresvant, to cut the lead to 62-60 with 5:28 left to play. Tresvant finished with 18 points.
Rider led 29-21 before Northridge went on a 14-7 run, eight points by Tresvant, to cut the lead to 36-35. Mansell again answered with a three-pointer and scored five points in the final two minutes of the first half as Rider led 43-35 at intermission.
Senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 11 points and 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds gives J. Thompson 330 for the year, breaking the single season record of 328 set in 1971-72 by Steve Jefferson. “Jason didn't really have it going tonight, and that was a credit to Northridge's defense,” Dempsey said. The 11 points matches his lowest output of the season.
The ?double-double' was the 18th of the season for J. Thompson, the 35th in the last two seasons and the 48th of his career.
Thompson played just 14 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. “Jason never really got started tonight,” Dempsey said, “but Harris and Ryan really stepped up.”
Trailing 5-4, Rider went on a 12-2 run to take a 16-7 lead six minutes into the game, and led 25-14 mid-way through the first half. The Broncs never trailed again.
The victory was Rider's 11th in the last 14 games but just the first since February 8, snapping a three-game losing streak. It also snapped Cal State Northridge's three-game winning streak.
Cal State Northridge is now 9-2 at home this season. “This was a tough task for our kids, to fly across the country and play in a great environment against a team that plays so well at home,” Dempsey said. “Their average margin of victory here is 19 points. Even though we barely got out of here, we did get out of here with a win, and that was a sign of our toughness tonight.”
The win was Rider's ninth (9-5, plus 1-2 neutral) on the road. The last time Rider had nine away wins was during the 1991-92 season (9-5, plus 2-2 neutral)
The Broncs recently dropped out of the Mid-Major Top 25 while Cal State Northridge is ranked 12th by CollegeInsider.com.
The Broncs return to the friendly confines of Alumni Gymnasium for the final two games of the regular season, hosting Saint Peter's on ESPNU February 29 at 7pm and hosting Fairfield 2pm March 2 on Senior Day in the regular season finale.
The Saint Peter's game will be Rider's sixth nationally televised game this season and second in a row.
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