Men's College Basketball
Rider University 78, Howard University 64
WASHINGTON, DC- In 1814, in a raid known as the Burning of Washington, British forces invaded the capital during the War of 1812. Tuesday night another British force traveled to Washington and burned the nets at Howard University.
Senior Justin Robinson of London, England (Blair Academy) scored 22 points and three other Broncs scored in double figures to lead Rider to victory at Howard Tuesday night. "They didn't make it easy on us," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "Give Howard credit. They fought hard and we couldn't shake them. Justin had a great game."
Robinson made seven of 10 field goal attempts, including five of seven three-pointers. Robinson ranks 15th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.
Rider (9-5) jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the first three minutes, five points by Robinson, and Rider never trailed. "We've been doing a good job coming out of the gates," Dempsey said of another quick start for Rider. "The guys have done a terrific job being focused for every game. We've emphasized the importance of our starts."
The Broncs led 22-9 mid-way through the first half and led 39-28 at half time on 11 points by Robinson.
"We led by double-digits most of the game but couldn't put them away," Dempsey said. "They banged and were physical."
Howard (2-9) went on an 8-2 run, six points by Mike Phillips, to cut the lead to eight, 55-47 with 9:40 left to play, but that was as close as the Bison could get. Phillips scored a career-high 24 points for Howard, making eight of 12 foul shots.
Howard guard Anton Dickerson averages a team-high 12.2 points per game but was held to just one point, being guarded by either senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) or sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones). "Jon and Mike always draw the best player," Dempsey said, "and they did a really good job on him. They kept him out of the game."
With the win, Rider has now won five of its last seven games, with the two losses coming on the road, at Pitt and in overtime at Drexel. "I think Drexel and Pitt are a combined 22-3," Dempsey said.
Junior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) compiled a 'double-double' for the Broncs with 15 points and 10 rebounds, along with four assists in 29 minutes of action.
Gadson was the MAAC Player of the Week last week for his play at La Salle.
Freshman Danny Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) compiled 14 points and seven rebounds and junior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added 11 points.
Rider out-rebounded Howard 37-30
Rider shot .481 percent from the field (26-54) and .474 from three-point range (9-19). Rider is 22nd in the nation in field goal percentage (.487).
Rider finished the non-conference portion of the schedule 8-4. "I'm pleased with that," Dempsey said. "When we drew the schedule up it seemed okay in the summer but in November we were trying to figure out how we were going to get some wins. We've had some great wins in the first half of the season and we need to keep grinding. It was a successful non-conference schedule."
Rider returns home to host Manhattan in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Monday, January 3. "We're excited to be getting back into the league play," Dempsey said. "We're playing well right now."
Rider, the only MAAC team with nine wins, is 1-1 in MAAC play, including a 29-point win at Manhattan December 2. "We expect Manhattan to come in and really fight us after we got them pretty good up there," Dempsey said. "We'll have to fight to be ready for them."
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