Men's College Basketball
Loyola College 75, Rider University 61
LAWRENCEVILLE?The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Loyola Friday evening. “Just a bad loss in a big spot,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “I'm disappointed with the way we played.”
Loyola (11-12, 6-5 MAAC) has now won six in a row. The Greyhounds were led by Jamal Barney, a transfer from Providence College and the leading scorer in the MAAC (18.8 ppg), who scored a game-high 28 points. “Loyola played well, “ Dempsey said. “They won six in a row, that's hard to do. In this league if you don't show up and play well you are going to get beat.”
Trailing 50-37, Rider (11-9, 6- MAAC) out-scored Loyola 17-7, five points by junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) , to cut the lead to 57-54 with 5:04 left to play, but that was as close as the Broncs could get. Thompson finished with 13 points. “We got it down to three points but they kept scoring,” Thompson said. “Every time we would bring it back they would go back up. We couldn't get fully back into the game.”
Loyola out-scored Rider 18-6 to start the second half, eight points by Bret Harvey, to take a 50-37 lead with 12:44 left to play. Harvey finished with 18 points off the bench.
“I didn't see this coming at all,” Dempsey said. “I didn't think there was any way we weren't going to play well in front of a sold out gym, on national television, against a good opponent. I'm shocked.”
Trailing 28-24, Rider out-scored Loyola 7-2, four points by sophomore Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), to take a 31-30 lead, and Loyola led 32-31 at the half. Ringgold finished with 13 points. “We're a better team than what we showed today,” Ringgold said.
Trailing 24-20, Loyola out-scored Rider 10-2, five points by Harvey, to take a 30-26 lead. Loyola led 19-15 before the Broncs went on a 9-1 run to take a 24-20 lead with 5:11 left in the first half.
Loyola was 24 of 37 from the foul line, including 11 of 14 from Barney, while Rider was 10 of 16. “Barney got to the free throw line a lot and made them,” Thompson said. “Missed free throws are energy draining plays,' Dempsey said. “We only got to the line 16 times, they got there 37 times and they converted more than we did.”
Rider shot 37 percent from the field (23-62) compared to Loyola's 49 percent (23-47). “We didn't shoot the ball particularly well,” Dempsey said. “Scoring gives you some energy. You go on a couple of runs, that gives you great life. We could never get on that run.”
Rider went on a 10-0 run to take a 13-9 lead before Loyola out-scored the Broncs 10-2, six points by Brian Rudolph, to take a 19-15 lead with 8:51 left in the first half. Rudolph finished with 12 points.
Freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), the MAAC Rookie of the Week last week for the third time, added 11 points and nine rebounds for Rider and senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) added 11 points, making all five of his foul shots. Freshman Jermaine Jackson (Reading, Pa./Reading) added six points and five rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
Rider hosts Canisius Sunday afternoon at 1pm. “We have to get back to work on Sunday,” Dempsey said. “It helps to get back out on the court quickly after a game like this.”
Rider defeated Canisius 12 straight times before losing in Buffalo January 15. Last year Rider defeated Canisius 102-51 in Alumni Gym. “We need to win Sunday,” Dempsey said. “We need to play harder than we did today and play better.”
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