Men's College Basketball
Rider University 55, Marist College 51
LAWRENCEVILE-When your star player is held to one point, your team shoots 31 percent from the field, including 23 percent from three-point range, and is out-rebounded, and you still manage to win a conference game, you need to count your blessings.
One of those blessings Sunday afternoon was junior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy). "Justin stepped up and made some shots," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, "which were big. We tried to get him some shots in the second half. He was our best option against their zone defense. He is such a good shooter."
Robinson scored 18 points, including two foul shots with 2.4 seconds left, to give Rider a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Marist Sunday afternoon. Robinson made four foul shots in the final 33 seconds. "Justin has played well all year," Dempsey said. "I'm very comfortable when he is shooting the ball. He's one of the best three-point shooters in the league."
Entering Sunday's game, Robinson led the MAAC in free throw shooting percentage (.885) and was second in three-point field goal percentage (.519).
Junior Jhamar Youngblood (Elizabeth, N.J./St. Patrick's) made two foul shots with 20 seconds left to give Rider (6-3, 1-0 MAAC) a 52-49 lead. Youngblood finished with 12 points.
Senior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) made one foul shot, his only point of the game, with 12.5 seconds left to give Rider a 53-51 lead. "I just couldn't get into a groove today," said Thompson, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year who experienced his lowest scoring output in 102 games, since going scoreless in his second-ever Rider game. "I couldn't get anything to fall. I just need to put this one behind me and keep moving forward. Fortunately, we have a team that, when I am not on, guys like Justin and Novar can step up."
Marist (0-6, 0-2 MAAC) freshman guard Sam Prescott made a three-point field goal with 32 seconds left to cut the lead to 48-46. Prescott finished with a game-high 14 points. Marist junior guard Dejuan Goodwin got an offensive rebound off a missed foul shot and made a three-pointer with 22 seconds left to cut the lead to 50-49. Goodwin finished with nine points.
With the score tied at 39-39 with 5:15 remaining, Rider went on an 8-0 run, four points each by sophomore Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) and Youngblood, to take a 47-39 lead with 1:41 remaining. Gadson finished with 12 points, all in the second half, and a game-high 13 rebounds. "Novar got into the defense in the second half," Dempsey said. "He got into some gaps."
"I knew when my outside shot was not falling I needed to get into the paint, into the gaps in their defense," Gadson said. "I wasn't doing that in the first half."
Rider was 11 of 18 from the foul line (.611) but made eight of 10 in the final 44 seconds. The Broncs were 19 of 61 from the field (.311), including six of 26 three-pointers (.231). Marist out-rebounded Rider 44-38. "We just didn't play well," Dempsey said. "We didn't shoot the ball well. When we get shots we have to knock them down. I still think we have good enough shooters."
Marist junior guard Daye Kaba's jumper with 12.5 seconds left cut the lead to 52-51. Kaba finished with 13 points. Rider led 37-30 before Marist went on a 7-0 run, five points by Kaba, to tie the score 37-37 with 8:46 remaining.
Rider junior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) added eight points, all in the first half, and seven rebounds. "Every time Mike caught the ball down low they were doubling him," Dempsey said.
Trailing 27-17, Marist out-scored Rider 9-2, four points by Dorvell Carter, to cut the lead to 29-26 5:34 into the second half. Carter finished with six points and eight rebounds.
Rider led 21-15 at the half, as both teams shot under 30 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The Broncs jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes, four points by Ringgold. Rider led 17-6 mid-way through the first half on eight Ringgold points.
Rider is now 4-0 at home this season and has won 131 of the last 172 games (.762) in the Broncs' Zoo, including 26 of the last 30 (.867).
The Red Foxes have not had a home game yet this year.
The win marked the third time in the last four years and the fifth time in the last seven years that the Broncs began the season 1-0 in the MAAC. Rider has been 1-0 in the MAAC eight times now in 13 years in the conference.
Since joining the MAAC, Rider is now 15-12 against Marist. In the all-time series, which began in 1980-81, Marist holds a slight 21-20 advantage. Rider and Marist were Northeast Conference rivals for five years before both teams joined the MAAC in 1997-98.
Rider hosts La Salle Wednesday. "I expect a zone defense against us again on Wednesday night and a really big zone," Dempsey said. "La Salle is a zone team and I don't think they have a starter under 6'6". So that is going to be a challenge for us."
Hopefully Rider will have more blessings to count.
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