Men's College Basketball
Rider University 71, UMBC 65
LAWRENCEVILLE?Junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) compiled 16 points and nine rebounds to lead Rider to victory over the University of Maryland Baltimore County in an ESPNU BracketBuster game Saturday afternoon. “We did enough to get a win,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “Today was more about winning the game than anything else.”
Trailing 55-52, Rider (16-11) out-scored UMBC 14-6, six points by Thompson, to take a 66-61 lead with 2:32 left to play. That was the 13th and final lead change of the game. “You always seem to have more energy at the end of a close game,” Thompson said.
Rider made five of six foul shots in the final 40 seconds, three by senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham), to preserve the victory. Mansell finished with 15 points and five rebounds, as did sophomore Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy). The two combined to make 13 of 17 foul shots.
Rider's three starting guards combined for 46 points. “Our guard play has been really, really good the last few weeks,” Dempsey said. “That's an important element to your team.”
“We all felt that if the game was close down the stretch we'd be able to pull it out,” said Mansell, who now has 1,265 career points, 17th highest ever at Rider. “It wasn't a pretty win but we found a way to get it done. That's what we needed to do.”
“Harris hit a big three down the stretch (5:42 remaining) to put us up by three (58-55) and that is when we got the momentum going,” Thompson said.
UMBC (12-15), the defending America East Champion, led 40-34 early in the second half before the Broncs went on a 9-2 run, three points by Robinson, to take a 43-42 lead with 16:00 left to play.
The Broncs won despite making just four of 18 three-point field goals. “We never got the energy level where we needed it to be,” Dempsey said. “We struggled shooting the three today, and nothing gives you energy like watching those threes go in. So it certainly was not one of our ?A' performances.”
“It was different playing a non-conference game this time of year,” Thompson said. “This time of year you are used to seeing the same players. You know your match-ups. We were prepared for this game, but it was still different.”
“Sort of an awkward game this time of year,” Dempsey said. “Other teams in the MAAC were having a good day, so I think this was a game our league counted on us to win. We needed to do our part and I think we did that with the win.”
Rider led 26-25 before UMBC went on a 9-2 run, five points by Chauncey Gilliam, to take a 34-28 lead, and UMBC led 38-34 at the half. Gilliam finished with 19 points.
Darryl Proctor, a first team All-America East selection, led UMBC with 21 points, making nine of 26 shots. “I thought we did a good job on Proctor,” Dempsey said. “He made some really hard shots at times. I think we forced him to take tough shots. UMBC shot 36 percent form the field so I think our defense forced them to take tough shots.”
Freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) added seven points and six rebounds. His three-point play tied the score at 55-55 with 6:43 remaining, and his two foul shots with 40 seconds left gave Rider a 68-63 lead.
Sophomore Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) added six points and six rebounds in just 26 minutes of action due to foul trouble.
This was Rider's fourth BracketBuster game. Rider won at Cal State Northridge last year when the Matadors were in first place in the Big West. The Broncs lost at Northeastern in 2006 and lost to Murray State in 2007.
This was the tenth meeting between UMBC and Rider with the Broncs holding a 6-4 advantage in the series that began in 1987-88 here at Rider in the WBUD Classic tournament. Rider and UMBC were East Coast Conference rivals for two seasons, 1990-91 and 1991-92, before Rider moved to the Northeast Conference. The last time these two teams met was during the 1996-97 season, a 66-49 Rider victory.
Rider travels to Loyola Thursday for a MAAC contest, and returns home March 1 to host Fairfield on Senior Day, the final game of the regular season. The MAAC Tournament is March 6-9 in Albany, NY.
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