College Basketball
Three Broncs Honored by MAAC
LAWRENCEVILLE--Three members of the Rider University basketball teams were honored by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Senior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) was named to the First Team All-MAAC for the second year in a row and is again in the running for the MAAC Player of the Year award, which will be announced on Thursday.
"I appreciate that the coaches rewarded him for the way he finished the season," said Rider men's head coach Tommy Dempsey. Thompson compiled 205 points in his last nine games and Rider won six of its last nine MAAC games. "He had an unbelievable February and played his way back on to the first team."
From the Rider women's team freshman Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Inst. of Notre Dame) was named to the MAAC All-Rookie team and is now a candidate for MAAC Rookie of the Year, and senior Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy) was named to the Third Team All-MAAC.
"I'm really happy for both Amanda and Caitlin," said Rider women's head coach Lynn Milligan. "Obviously it has been a tough season for the whole team and for us to have two players on the All-MAAC teams is terrific."
Thompson is third in the MAAC in scoring (16.9), second in minutes played (36.5), third in free throw percentage (.813), seventh in field goal percentage (.421), 11th in assists (2.8) and 19th in rebounding (5.0). Thompson is fourth in career points (1,836), sixth in career assists (389) and seventh in career rebounds (725), the only Bronc to rank in the top 10 in all three categories. "Ryan has been one of the all-time greats here," Dempsey said.
Bopp compiled 10 'double-doubles' this year and ranks third among rookies nationally in rebounds per game at 9.6. Bopp is currently 27th in the NCAA in rebounds per game, second in the MAAC, and was a five-time MAAC Rookie of the Week. Bopp averaged 10.1 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game in MAAC play.
"I'm so excited to have made the All-Rookie team," Bopp said. "It's really an honor to be included in the same category with the top freshmen players of the conference. It's been a tough season but I really think the competition this year has been great and all the other players on the All-Rookie team really deserve the recognition."
"I think the entire All-Rookie team was obvious," Milligan said. "All five had great seasons and for Caitlin to be among them is a special honor. Caitlin is the only post player on the list and for her to average a 'double-double' in conference play is an exceptional thing. I'm glad that she was recognized for her efforts."
Sepulveda led Rider with 11.7 ppg, 14th best in the MAAC. Sepulveda also leads the MAAC (27th in the nation) with 2.7 three-pointers per game and is seventh in the MAAC in minutes played (34.2), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.336) and ninth in assists (2.4). A 116 game veteran, Sepulveda ranks 11th on Rider's all-time scoring list with 1,132 points and is tied for 11th all-time at Rider with 277 assists.
"Amanda has been a steady player for us," Milligan said. "She has done everything we needed her to do to make this program better and has paved the way for our future point guards to be successful. She has set a standard and I'm thrilled that she received this recognition."
"I'm happy that my hard work and my teammate's hard work was noticed and appreciated by the coaches around the conference," Sepulveda said. "In past seasons it was almost as if the point guards were a little over looked and this year, there was some great guard play and I'm excited to have been voted among the best."
The Rider men are the fifth seed in the 10-team tournament and will play the fourth seed, Saint Peter's on Saturday at 2:30pm in the quarterfinals. The game will be televised on the MSG television network. It will be the sixth time in the last 11 years that Rider and SPC have met in postseason play. "We're looking forward to getting up to Albany," Dempsey said. "We've had an up and down year but at this point you just turn the page and hope to play well this weekend."
Rider enters the MAAC tournament having won six of its last nine conference games. Rider defeated Saint Peter's by six points in Jersey City on February 15 and defeated the Peacocks by nine points in the MAAC quarterfinals last year. A win on Saturday for the Rider men and the Broncs play Sunday at 4pm in the semifinals against the winner of the #1 Siena-#4 Iona game.
The Rider women are the tenth seed and play the seventh seed, Siena, Thursday at 12 noon. A Rider victory on Thursday and the Broncs play the second seed, Iona on Friday at 9:30 am.
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