Men's College Basketball
Rider University 80, Niagara University 76
LAWRENCEVILLE? Against the defending conference champions, Rider avenged a loss from earlier this season and stayed as hot as any team in the nation. “It was just a hard-fought game,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “They weren't going to make it easy on us, and that is why I am so pleased, because of our toughness tonight.”
Senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 18 points, 16 in the second half, and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead first place Rider to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over fourth place Niagara Friday night.
The victory was Rider's tenth in a row, the fourth longest current streak in Division I and Rider's longest streak since winning 10 straight during the 1983-84 season.
“It was a terrific game,” said Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich. “A great night for college basketball. Two good teams battling it out, going toe to toe. We had our chances, but in the end they made a few more plays than us. They deserve the credit.”
Holding a 57-56 lead Rider (18-6, 11-2 MAAC) went on an 11-3 run, four points by Jason Thompson and three by junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham), to take a 68-59 lead with 5:00 remaining. Mansell also made two foul shots with 1.6 seconds left for the final score, and finished with 16 points and four assists.
The scoreboard clock had a few glitches in it that had to be straightened out prior to Mansell's last free throws. “Our own scorekeeper iced me,” Mansell joked. “I've been in that position a few times this year. We shoot a lot of foul shots in practice every day, and we have to make them or we run, so we've been trained to shoot them under pressure.”
Niagara (14-8, 8-5 MAAC) out-scored Rider 10-3, five points by sophomore guard Tyrone Lewis, to cut the lead to 71-69 with 2:00 left. Lewis made a four-point play to cut the lead to 75-73, and hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 77-76 with :39 left, but that was as close as the Purple Eagles could get. Lewis finished with 26 points and five rebounds, scoring Niagara's final 10 points of the game.
“It was fun playing in front of my family and friends,” said Lewis, of nearby Levittown, PA. “They don't get to see my play too much in Niagara, so it was almost like a home game for me. It is always fun to play in front of your family and friends.”
Also for Niagara, senior forward Charron Fisher scored 30 points, 20 in the first half, and grabbed 11 rebounds. “Our double teams were slow getting to Charron in the first half,” Dempsey said. “We didn't execute our game plan well in the first half. We had a little better focus on it in the second half.”
For the Broncs sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ryan Thompson ranks among the MAAC leaders in scoring (sixth), rebounding (ninth), field goal percentage (fifth), three-point field goal percentage (second), assists (seventh), steals (seventh) and free throw percentage (15th ).
Rider has now won 13 of the last 15 and 15 of the last 18 games. The last time Rider lost was January 4 by one point to Marist. “Winning ten in a row is special,” Dempsey said. “That is very hard to do in college basketball. But even though we've been able to do that, I'm hoping that a month from now we're a better basketball team than we are now. That's our goal, to just keep getting better.”
Freshman Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) added 14 points for the Broncs.
The first half saw six lead changes and five ties, with Niagara leading 37-36 at intermission. Trailing 43-40, Rider out-scored Niagara 14-2, seven points by Jason Thompson, to take a 54-45 lead with 12:33 left to play. That was the ninth and final lead change of the game.
The victory at home gives Rider a record of 9-1 in the Broncs' Zoo, where an overflow crowd of over 1700 packed Alumni Gymnasium, which has a capacity of 1,650. “The crowd energizes us when they get here this early, pack the place and are really loud,” Jason Thompson said. “We play well when the crowd is like that, and it is hard for the visiting teams.”
“That was a great crowd,” Mihalich said. “People camped outside, can't get a ticket. That's great.”
The last time Rider was 9-1 in Alumni Gym was 2002. Rider finished 10-2 in the Zoo in 2001. The Broncs finished the 1992-93 season 13-1 at home.
Rider lost 89-77 at Niagara December 6 to begin MAAC play 0-1. The last time Rider defeated Niagara was January 20, 2006, 67-47 here in Alumni Gym. Niagara had won the last five. “Even though Niagara is far away, I feel they are one of our biggest rivals,” Jason Thompson said. “They knocked us out of the tournament two of my three years. Every time we play them it is a big game. We fell short a few times but it was tough not to play extra hard the way the Zoo was rocking tonight.”
“This is a big win,” Ryan Thompson said. “This is the first time we've beaten them since I've been here, so there was a lot of motivation for us.” Rider lost three times to Niagara last year, by one point here at Rider, by 12 points in Western New York and again in the MAAC Tournament. Rider and Niagara have now met 26 times since the series began in 1991-92, with Rider winning nine of the last 21.
The ?double-double' for Jason Thompson was his 15th of the season and 45th of his career. Thompson entered the game third in the nation in rebounding (11.5), 12th in blocks (2.8) and 33rd in scoring (20.0). Thompson now has 1,823 career points, third most ever at Rider and a Bronc-record 1,037 rebounds.
Rider came into the game ranked 13th in Division I in field goal percentage and shot 46.4 from the field (32-69).
Rider will try for its 11th straight win Sunday afternoon with a home game against second place Siena. The last time Rider won 11 straight was during the 1957-58 season when the Broncs began the season 12-1 and finished 17-8 in the NAIA Tournament.
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