Men's College Basketball
Rider University 74, Marist College 61
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY?Junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Marist Monday evening. “Tonight was a tough test,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “Marist came out ready tonight, as I expected them to.”
Trailing 55-53, Rider (14-9, 9-4) out-scored Marist 15-2, seven points by Thompson, to take a 68-57 lead with 3:12 remaining. Rider held Marist scoreless from the 7:00 mark until the 2:11 mark. “We really locked it down in the second half,” Dempsey said. “It was a great defensive effort in the second half.”
The victory was Rider's third in a row, the first three-game streak for the Broncs since November. The loss was the eighth straight for Marist. Rider has now won five of the last six games.
“It's hard to win on the road in this league, especially in this place,” Thompson said.
The Broncs made 11 of 14 free throws in the final 6:45 to preserve the victory. The Broncs out-rebounded Marist 48-33, including 31-11 in the second half. “We re-focused after halftime. Holding them to 19 points while out-rebounding them by 20,” Dempsey said.
Marist (7-19, 3-11) led 42-35 at the half before Rider began the second half with a 13-5 run, four points by sophomore Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), to take a 48-47 lead with 15:55 left to play. Ringgold finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds while holding Marist star Ryan Schneider to just 10 points. “I thought Mike was the key tonight,” Dempsey said, “His defense on Schneider. Schneider averages 16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. “Schneider was 3 of 15; you couldn't ask more of Mike than that.”
“It was a great team effort on defense tonight,” Ringgold said.
Trailing 36-25, Rider out-scored Marist 10-3, five points by Ringgold, to cut the lead to 39-35, and Marist led 42-35 at half time. Marist shot 58 percent in the first half (15-26) to Rider's 42 percent (15-36). In the second half Marist shot just 38 percent (22-57). “I thought it was a tale of two halves defensively,” Dempsey said. “We struggled with their motion dribble-drive motion the first half. At half time, it did not look like we were the better team.”
Holding a 29-23 lead, Marist went on a 7-2 run, four points by Kaylen Gregory, to take a 36-25 lead with 5:00 left in the first half.
Sophomore Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy), the MAAC Player of the Week, contributed 11 points while guarding Marist's David Devezin. “I'm just trying to play hard,” Robinson said.
“Justin is really turning the corner, offensively last game and defensively tonight,” Dempsey said.
Trailing 13-9, Marist out-scored Rider 16-7, nine points by David Devezin, to take a 25-20 lead mid-way through the first half. Devezin led the Red Foxes with 15 points. “Devezin had 13 at the half, so Justin did a great job on him in the second half,” Dempsey said.
Freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), the MAAC Rookie of the Week, added seven points and eight rebounds. Senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) added nine points and eight rebounds.
The Broncs beat Marist by 11 points at Rider five weeks ago. Rider ended Marist's season in the 2008 MAAC semifinals. Rider won here in the McCann Center last year in a battle for first place in late January.
Rider has now won the last four meetings with Marist and 10 of the last 16.
On January 4, Rider defeated Marist 76-65 in Lawrenceville. In that game, Mike Ringgold scored 17 points and Harris Mansell added 15. Rider never trailed in the contest and out-scored Marist 6-2 over the final 1:49.
The Broncs host Saint Peter's at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton Friday evening, the second game of a doubleheader with the Rider women, who host Manhattan at 5:30.
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