Men's College Basketball
Rider University 86, Canisius College 70
Broncs Finish Fifth
LAWRENCEVILLE- Junior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) scored a career-high 27 points to lead a balanced Rider attack in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Canisius Sunday. The game featured 11 lead changes and 12 ties.
With the win and the Niagara overtime loss at Fairfield, Rider (16-15, 9-9 MAAC) finishes in fifth place and will now play on Saturday at 2:30 pm in the MAAC quarterfinals against fourth place Saint Peter's (16-13, 11-7 MAAC). The official pairings will be announced by the MAAC office on Monday.
"We've struggled, we've been knocked down, we've been kicked while we were down but we fought our way to fifth place," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "Fifth is not the worst place to be. The teams ahead of us played better than us this year, but I don't think that means a whole lot this coming weekend. There is so much balance."
Rider was picked to finish third this season, behind Niagara, who finished sixth. "I think we have the talent to be higher than fifth," Robinson said, "but we've been inconsistent this year. Our best is still to come. We can go to Albany (for the MAAC tournament) and do some damage."
Rider and Saint Peter's split their two-game series this year. Rider recently defeated Saint Peter's 72-66 on February 15 in Jersey City. "Saint Peter's is good," Dempsey said. "We played them last year in the MAAC tournament."
Rider defeated Saint Peter's 67-58 in the 2009 MAAC quarterfinals, the fifth time Rider and Saint Peter's met in post-season. "We always seem to find each other in the MAAC tournament," Dempsey said, "and here we are again."
Five Broncs scored in double figures, including senior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape), who compiled 17 points, five rebounds and four assists in his final home game. "Now we have to go to Albany with a chip on our shoulder." Thompson said.
Canisius (14-16, 8-10 MAAC) led 65-60 before Rider out-scored the Golden Griffins 26-5 over the final 7:47 of the game, 13 points by Robinson. "We knew we were going to make a run and come back and win it," Thompson said.
Robinson made eight of 10 shots from the field, including all five of his three-point field goal attempts, and all six of his foul shots. "Justin made some big shots," Thompson said. "Justin was at his best today," Dempsey said.
As a team, Rider made 19 of 22 foul shots and out-rebounded Canisius 34-31.
Trailing 52-44, Canisius went on an 11-0 run, six points by Alshwan Hynes, to take a 55-52 lead with 12:29 left to play. Hynes finished with six points.
The Broncs out-scored Canisius 13-6 to start the second half, eight points by Robinson, to take a 52-44 lead with 15:03 left to play.
Rider led 39-38 at the half. The first 20 minutes featured nine lead changes and seven ties.
Rider lost 74-58 at Canisius on January 22. Rider defeated Canisius 12 straight times before the Golden Grifins won two out of the last three. Canisius, who has never won in Alumni Gym (0-13), finishes in seventh place.
Thompson has now compiled 205 points in his last nine games and Rider won six of its last nine MAAC games.
Also for Rider, junior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) compiled 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) added 10 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Senior Robbie Myers (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood), in his final game in Alumni Gym, made a three-point field goal with 11 seconds left for the final score. The three-pointer gave Myers four points for the season.
Frank Turner led Canisius with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Rider will play Saturday at 2:30 in the quarterfinals. A win and the Broncs play Sunday at 4pm in the semifinals against the winner of the #1 Siena-#4 Iona game. The championship game is Monday at 7pm
"Right now we're thinking about 2:30 on Saturday against Saint Peter's," Dempsey said. "If you are fortunate enough to get to the next day, you better be ready to go."
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