Men's College Basketball
Siena College 73, Rider University 60
LAWRENCEVILLE-In the first conference game of the season in Division I basketball, the Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Siena Friday night. "The team that played better won the game," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "Give Siena credit, they played better, and we didn't play well enough to win."
Trailing 47-44, Siena (2-3) went on a 20-1 run, six points by senior guard Clarence Jackson, to take a 64-48 lead with 6:40 left to play. That was the 10th and final lead change of the game. "We just dried up," Dempsey said. "We worked the ball inside and got shots, they just didn't fall."
Jackson finished with 15 points and senior forward Ryan Rossiter, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, finished with a game-high 18 points and 17 rebounds.
"Rossiter is a good player," Dempsey said. "He had 18 and 17 and he didn't even have that good a game, that is how good he is. He got those numbers on pure hustle tonight."
Rossiter ranks 21st in the nation in scoring and fifth in rebounding. Rossiter and Jackson are 1-2 in the MAAC in scoring.
"This was a great road win against a team playing real well," said Siena head coach Mike Buonaguro.
For Rider (4-2), junior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) compiled 14 points and nine rebounds. "Brandon played well," Dempsey said. "He was one of the bright spots for us."
"I tried to stay patient and get open in their zone," said Penn, who grabbed a career high nine rebounds.
Trailing 28-26, Rider went on a 7-0 run, three points by senior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy), to take a 33-28 lead and the Broncs led 36-31 at the half. Robinson finished with 12 points and four assists.
"Robinson came in playing as well as any guard in the country," Buonaguro said. "Holding him to 12 points was a key to the game."
For the game Rider shot 38.6 percent (23-60), including 26.7 percent (8-30) in the second half. Rider made just six of 16 three-point shots. "Holding a team that was second in the nation in three-point shooting (51.1 percent) to 37 percent was a key to the game," Buonaguro said.
The Broncs shot 50 percent from the field in the first half (15-30) but made just one of four foul shots.
Penn made five of six shots from the field in the first half, leading Rider with 12 points at intermission. Senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) finished with 10 points and four rebounds, while sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) added 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Siena defeated Rider 72-62 in the MAAC semifinals last season on its way to a third straight MAAC Championship.
The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for Rider, ranked 15th in latest Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. "We're not great yet," Dempsey said. "We played well over our last stretch of games, and we have a chance to be real good, but we're not there yet."
Siena out-rebounded Rider 41-34.
Siena has now won 11 of the last 14 meetings with Rider, including all three last year. The last time Rider defeated Siena was February 7, 2009, 90-88 here in Alumni Gym. Rider and Siena have now met 34 times since the series began in 1976-77, with Rider winning 10.
"Siena is still the team to beat in this league," Dempsey said of the three-time defending MAAC Champs.
The Broncs won the last two MAAC openers. Rider hosts Hofstra Monday night in a 7pm game televised on Comcast SportsNet.
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