Men's College Basketball MAAC Quarterfinals
Rider University 75, Canisius College 71
Rider vs. Marist in Semi-Finals
ALBANY, NY?You can't always get what you want, but if your try, sometimes, you get what you need. “It was just a gutsy win,” said the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Rider's Tommy Dempsey. “If it could have gone wrong, it went wrong tonight.”
The Rider University basketball team got what it needed Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Championship Tournament, a win. It also got what it didn't want, something it was able to avoid all during the regular season. Injuries. “We battled adversity all night long,” Dempsey said. “Everything in the game worked against us, and I think a lesser team would have given in and would be on the bus heading home.”
Freshman Patrick Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) made a three-point field goal, his only shot of the game in seven minutes of action, with 62 second remaining to give Rider (22-9) a 74-71 lead over the 10th seed, Canisius. “Pat hit a big shot and we move on to the semifinals,” Dempsey said. “I trust Pat. He's been waiting his turn with the log jam we have at the shooting guard position. He's a winner. When your back is against the wall you want a group out there that has winning qualities, that knows how to win tight games, and I've seen that in him in high school and at Rider. He's a big shot maker.”
“My role is to come in and try to be as solid as possible,” the younger Mansell said. “Just get the ball inside, don't turn the ball over, and hit an open shot if one comes my way. I defer to the veterans on offense. If I have an open shot, drill it, and I thank Jason (Thompson) for having the confidence in me, trusting me to take that shot. In high school I always took the big shot, and that mentality is still in me. Jason trusted me to give me the ball for that shot and knock it down and I did, and it helped us win the game. That's all I was trying to do.”
Patrick Mansell was called into action when sophomore Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), a second team All-MAAC selection, left the game with what looked like a concussion after receiving an elbow to the face from Canisius' Rishawn Johnson with 7:31 left and Rider trailing 62-61, and freshman Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) left the game with 6:16 left with what appeared to be a high ankle sprain. “I don't expect either Ryan or Justin to play Sunday,” Dempsey said. “Ryan has a concussion and Justin couldn't come back tonight so to come back 24 hours later would be doubtful. If he could have come back tonight I would have felt better about Sunday.”
Rider started the same five players all season, with the exception of senior night, but that will change now. “It's amazing, because we've started the same line up all year, with the exception of senior night, we've been injury free all year, and we come here, in the biggest weekend of the season, and they're dropping like flies,” Dempsey said.
Canisius (6-25) out-scored Rider 17-6 over the first five minutes of the second half, 13 points by Greg Logins, to cut the lead to 47-46. Ask any basketball expert and they'll tell you 80 percent of the time, whoever wins the first five minutes of the second half wins the game. “Canisius played terrific tonight,” Dempsey said.
Logins finished with a game-high 20 points. “Logins has gotten so much better it isn't even funny,” Dempsey said. “Canisius played with great energy tonight. They are a much better team right now than they were two months ago when we last saw them.”
A three-point field goal by Bob Bevilacqua with 11:00 remaining gave the Golden Griffins their first lead of the game, 58-57 and the contest was back and forth the rest of the way. Bevilacqua finished with 15 points.
Tied at 66-66, junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham), who left the game with 1:37 left in the first half with a sprained ankle and could not start the second half for the first time in 31 games this season, made a foul shot to give Rider the lead, and made a painful layup with 1:49 remaining to give Rider a 71-69 lead. H. Mansell finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
Canisius' Frank Turner hit a jumper with 1:33 left to tie the score for the third time at 71-71, setting up the game-winner by Patrick Mansell. Turner finished with 19 points.
The Broncs jumped out to a 10-2 lead over the team they beat by 51 points (102-51) on January 6, five points by Robinson. “We got off to an early lead,” H. Mansell said, “and we kind of stopped running our offense a little bit and we let them hang in the game. I think that gave them confidence and they started hitting some shots and we stared missing some shots, and it stayed a close game from then on.”
Bevilacqua made three three-point field goals in a two minute span to cut the lead to 20-18, before the Broncs went on a 10-0 run, five points by the MAAC Player of the Year, senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), and Rider led 30-18 and 41-29 at the half. Bevilacqua finished with 15 points.
J. Thompson finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, his 21st ?double-double' of the season and the 51st of his career, but played just 28 minutes due to foul trouble. J. Thompson now has 1, 971 career points and 1,124 rebounds. “It was hard for me tonight, being in foul trouble, but that's why we're a good team, because we have a deep bench,” Thompson said.” With the injuries guys came in off the bench and that's how we got the win, with the energy off the bench.”
Right before the half Harris Mansell was going for a loose ball in front of the Canisius bench when Griff Robert Goldsberry dove for the ball and landed on Mansell's ankle. Harris Mansell was helped off the court and could not go in the second half, until the other injuries occurred. “Harris went down and I was trying to get through the second half without him,” Dempsey said. “I didn't think he could go, but we needed him and it is a tribute to his heart. When things got a bit shaky, I asked him if he could do it. He said ?I can go if you need me' and I said ?I need you' and he went back in and shortly after Ryan goes down and Justin goes down.”
“My ankle is not feeling very good right now,” H. Mansell said, “I put some tape on it. I didn't think I was going to be able to come back but I saw the game got close. Mentally I was trying to overcome it. I'm one of the go-to guys on this team and guys are looking for me to hit the big shot, so I took it upon myself to be more aggressive and forget about my injury. There is no time for injury when you are in a close game. Usually when you are aggressive good things happen.”
The second seed, Rider will now play the sixth seed, Marist, who upset third seeded Niagara 66-62 in the quarterfinals.
The victory was Rider's 22nd, a new team record for wins in a season.
Rider entered the tournament 10th in the nation in field goal percentage (48.9) and 11th in three-point field goal percentage (40.0). In the quarterfinals Rider shot 50 percent from the field (26-52) and 50 percent from three-point range (8-16).
Saturday's game was J. Thompson's 120th at Rider, setting a new Bronc record for games played.
J. Thompson is currently ranked second in the nation in rebounding (11.8), 14th in blocked shots (2.8) and 35th in scoring (20.2).
The victory puts Rider in the semifinals for just the second time in MAAC tournament. In 2005 Rider defeated Fairfield in the semifinals.
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