Men's College Basketball
Rider University 79, University of Maryland, Baltimore County 67
BALTIMORE, MD--One down, five to go. The Broncs began a streak of six consecutive road games with a victory at UMBC Saturday. "It is very intimidating to stare at your schedule and see a six game road trip," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, "but we have one down and one win so it's a good start."
Senior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) scored 21 points, 15 in the first half, and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Rider to victory at UMBC Saturday night. "Ryan played really well," Dempsey said. "They did a better job on him in the second half."
Thompson made three two-pointers and three three-pointers. "When he is making his threes he is almost impossible to guard," Dempsey said. "The court opens up for him."
"I just shot the open shots I had," said Thompson, who scored just 28 points in his last three games combined. "Basically, the only difference tonight is the ball went in. Last few games I had many of the same shots I had tonight, but tonight they went in."
Rider (7-4) made five of six foul shots in the final minute to preserve the victory. With the victory, Rider has now won four of its last five games and five of the last seven.
"Give Rider credit," said UMBC head coach Randy Monroe. "They have some veteran players who made some big plays for them. That's what veterans do."
Holding a 53-46 lead, Rider out-scored UMBC 12-6 to take a 65-52 lead with 8:40 remaining.
Holding a 29-25 lead, Rider went on an 11-3 run, six points by Thompson, to take a 40-28 lead, and the Broncs led 42-33 at the half on a buzzer-beater by Thompson.
A 10-1 UMBC run cut the Rider lead to 25-22 with 5:16 left in the first half
Trailing 12-10, Rider went on a 14-0 run, four points each by sophomore Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) and junior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy), to take 24-12 lead with 9:46 left in the first half. Gadson finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Robinson finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Junior Jhamar Youngblood (Elizabeth, N.J./St. Patrick's) finished with 10 points and five rebounds, as four Broncs scored in double figures. "We had good balance offensively," Dempsey said. "We ran the ball well tonight. We have to get our running game kick-started. We're a running team, a good transition team. I thought we really showed that in spurts tonight."
UMBC had won 26 of its last 35 home games before Saturday night.
Robinson was four of four from the foul line and has now made his last 19 foul shots, 24 of his last 25 and leads the MAAC with 31 of 34 for the season.
Thompson now has 1,478 career points, passing Rider Athletics Hall of Famer Greg Burston '99 for ninth place on Rider's all-time scoring list. Burston scored 1,472 career points.
For UMBC (0-9), senior forward Matt Spadafora of Richboro, PA (Archbishop Wood) compiled 16 points and nine rebounds.
Junior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) added eight points and four rebounds, as the Broncs out-rebounded the Retrievers 31-24.
Rider shot 50 percent from the field (27-54) and made 19 of 22 foul shots, as Thompson made six of seven.
Rider and UMBC are former East Coast Conference rivals (1990-91, 1991-92). Rider and UMBC have now met 11 times, including a 71-65 Rider victory last season as part of the BracketBuster Weekend in Lawrenceville. Prior to last year the last time these two teams met was during the 1996-97 season, a 66-49 Rider victory. Rider holds a 7-4 advantage in the series that began in 1987-88.
Rider is now 2-2 on the road this year, winning at Mississippi State before losing at Virginia and at Kentucky. Last year Rider was 7-7 on the road during the regular season.
Rider travels to Rutgers Tuesday. The Broncs won at Rutgers 61-57 on December 21, 2007 but lost to the Scarlet Knights 66-62 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton December 3, 2008. "We're always excited to play this game," Dempsey said. "We'll have great energy, great emotion. The kids like playing at the RAC. We have a lot of Jersey kids so this game is always one that is circled on the schedule, not just for the players but the fans as well."
"It is going to be great on Tuesday," Thompson said. "Last time we played there we ran out of there with a win. It is going to be a great atmosphere and should be a close game."
The second of six on the road.
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