Men's College Basketball
Rider University 70, Monmouth University 63
WEST LONG BRANCH-Oh, the weather outside was frightful, but the foul shooting was so delightful, and since Rider led with no time to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Junior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) scored 19 points to lead Rider to a come-from-behind victory at Monmouth Saturday afternoon.
"Monmouth played well," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "This is never an easy game. A road game against a well-coached team. It was a tough kind of grind. We're fortunate to get out of here with a win. We beat a team that played well today."
Rider (8-5) trailed 38-30 before going on a 19-8 run, eight points by Robinson, to take a 49-46 lead with 7:51 remaining. "The second half we created our offense with our defense," Robinson said. "We had much more energy and were able to pull away."
Apparently, Thomas Wolfe was wrong, you can go home again. Bronc junior Jhamar Youngblood (Elizabeth, N.J./St. Patrick's), who scored 697 points while wearing a Monmouth uniform before transferring to Rider, scored 16 big points, 14 in the second half and had four steals.
"A couple of their players are still my closest friends," Youngblood said. "We talk two, three times a week. I had some close friends in the stands today as well, so it was fun playing here today."
"I thought Jhamar was a huge key today," Dempsey said. "I'm very proud of him. I know he was excited to play in this game. He drove the zone in the second half and made some big time finishes. I think he was the difference, the play of Jhamar and Justin."
"Justin played well but I knew we needed some more offense out there today," Youngblood said, "so I tried to stay aggressive. I need to step it up for us to do as well as we are capable of."
Rider trailed 46-45 before out-scoring Monmouth 12-5, 10 points by Youngblood, to take a 57-51 lead with 5:05 left to play. Rider never trailed again. "When the threes were not falling in the first half we decided to try to spread the court and drive the ball more," Dempsey said.
Youngblood was the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year in 2006-07 and was Monmouth's leading scorer in 2007-08 (12.1ppg).
This year Youngblood has played in 11 games, starting the last six, and is fifth on the team in scoring and rebounding, fourth in assists.
The Broncs made 20 of 25 foul shots. Robinson was six for six from the line and has made his last 25 in a row. "I try not to think about it," Robinson said. "We shoot a lot of foul shots in practice so I credit it to our practices. It has been working well for me so far. I've been productive."
Robinson leads the MAAC in foul shooting (37 for 40).
Rider went on a 15-5 run, six points by Robinson and five by sophomore Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) to cut the Monmouth lead to 29-27 with 30 seconds left in the first half, and Rider trailed 31-27 at intermission. Gadson finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Monmouth (3-9) used a 22-4 run, 12 points by 6'8" sophomore forward Travis Taylor, to take a 24-12 lead with 5:00 left in the first half. Taylor scored 20 for Monmouth, while 5'10" Will Campbell finished with a game-high 27 points, making four three-pointers and all seven of his foul shots.
"Travis Taylor is a great player," Dempsey said. "Campbell stepped up. When they are scoring 20 inside and 27 on the perimeter, it isn't easy. We were fortunate to beat them."
Rider junior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) compiled 10 points and five rebounds and senior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
The game was Rider's third of six consecutive road games. Rider is now 3-3 on the road this season and 1-1 on neutral court.
Monmouth opened the state-of-the-art Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC) on September 9. The 153,200 square foot building holds 4,100 for basketball but housed just 550 due to the snow on Saturday. "They were 2-1 in this building coming into today and I think they'll win a lot of games here," Dempsey said.
Rider and Monmouth are former Northeast Conference rivals. In the five years Rider was in the NEC (1992-93 through 1996-97) the Broncs were 6-4 against the Hawks during the regular season. Rider and Monmouth played for the NEC Championship in 1994 (Rider won at Rider) and 1996 (Monmouth won at Monmouth). The Broncs and Hawks have met 35 times since the series began in 1974-75, with Rider winning 20, including a 76-55 win here in West Long Branch on December 15, 2007 and a 66-54 win in Lawrenceville on December 10, 2008. Rider has now won five of the last six meetings and is 9-4 against Monmouth since joining the MAAC.
"This is a bit of a rivalry game," Dempsey said. "I think both teams get excited about it, both universities get excited about it. They never make it easy on you."
"Any team can win on any given day," Thompson said. "We were fortunate to turn it around in the second half."
Monmouth is picked to finish ninth of 12 teams in the NEC. The Hawks began the season with a win over Isiah Thomas' Florida International team before losing to Seton Hall, Saint Peter's and Lehigh. Monmouth traveled to Laramie, Wyoming for the World Vision Challenge, where the Hawks defeated Wyoming and lost to Pepperdine and Hampton. The Hawks began league play with a loss at Sacred Heart before losing at Rutgers. Monmouth then entered the Ivy League, defeating Penn before losing at Princeton Wednesday night.
With just one non-conference game remaining, the February 20 BracketBuster contest, Rider now turns its attention to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Currently 1-0 in MAAC play, the Broncs travel to defending champion Siena December 23. Rider defeated the Saints 90-88 in the last meeting, February 7 at Rider. The Broncs lost 91-81 at Siena last season.
"Now we have to go get ready for Siena," Dempsey said. "That's a game we've been looking forward to."
The forecast for Albany next week is snow. Let it.
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