Men's College Basketball
Saint Peter's College 65, Rider University 64
TRENTON?The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Saint Peter's Friday night at the Sovereign Bank Arena. “You get what you deserve,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “If you don't play well there is a chance you are going to get beat, and that's what happened tonight.”
Sophomore guard Nick Leon scored a driving layup with 4.5 seconds left to give Saint Peter's the victory. Leon finished with a game-high 24 points, making six three pointers. “Leon had a great night,” Dempsey said.
Rider junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) made two foul shots with 14.5 seconds left to give Rider a 64-63 lead, Rider's first lead since 2-0. Thompson finished with a team-high 17 points. “14 seconds is a lot of time,” Dempsey said. “You still have to get that last stop, and we didn't.”
“We just didn't get a stop at the end when we really needed it,” Thompson said.
Saint Peter's (8-17, 5-10 MAAC) led 53-43 with 9:20 left to play before Rider (14-10, 9-5 MAAC) went on a 12-2 run, six points by sophomore Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy), to tie the score at 55-55 with 4:00 remaining. Robinson finished with 10 points.
The Broncs made just five of 10 foul shots in the final 3:05, while Saint Peter's made four of six in the final 1:13 to preserve the victory. “We didn't play well and our opponent did,” Dempsey said. “They took it to us.”
Trailing 40-27, Rider out-scored Saint Peter's 12-2, four points by Robinson, to cut the lead to 42-39.
Saint Peter's scored the first eight points of the second half, six by Leon, to take a 40-27 lead.
Trailing 17-8, Rider out-scored Saint Peter's 14-6, five points each by senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) and Thompson, to cut the lead to 23-22 with 4:04 left in the half. Saint Peter's led 32-27 at intermission. Mansell finished with 16 points.
Saint Peter's jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first 3:20, six points by Leon. “Leon's a good player,” Thompson said. “He made his shots tonight.”
The loss snapped Rider's three-game winning streak. “We missed open shots, we missed layups,” Dempsey said.
SPC has now won three of its last five games.
This was the 43rd meeting between Rider and Saint Peter's in the series that began in 1942-43, with Rider winning 21, including the last five before Friday. Rider defeated the Peacocks in the Prudential Center the last two seasons, including 78-67 earlier this year.
Rider travels to Riverdale, NY to take on Manhattan Sunday afternoon.
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