Men's College Basketball
2010 Citizens Bank Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships - Quarterfinals
#5 Rider University 69, #4 Saint Peter's College 57
ALBANY, N.Y.--The battle of New Jersey, fought in 1777, is still being contested, this time at the 2010 Citizens Bank Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball championships in Albany, New York.
Behind 22 points from senior Ryan Thompson (Mount Laurel/Lenape) the Rider University men's basketball team defeated New Jersey rival Saint Peter's 69-57 in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament Saturday afternoon.
"It was a hard fought win," said head coach Tommy Dempsey. "I thought our energy level was good, especially early in the game."
Rider caused 18 turnovers, 16 in the first half.
"Our defensive effort was solid," Dempsey said. "Saint Peter's plays a very physical style and sometimes gives us a problem. We were able to grind it out today and get the win."
Leading 51-45 with 5:53 left in the game, Rider (17-15) scored six of the next eight points, all by Thompson, opening up a 10-point lead with 3:13 remaining. Thompson was 11 for 12 from the free throw line and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 39 minutes.
"That's what good seniors do," Dempsey said. "When you are struggling a little and the game got tight, we as a staff made an effort to get the ball in Ryan's hands and we were confident that he would get us to where we needed to be and that's in the semifinals."
Leading 59-51 with two minutes left, the Broncs made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Rider attempted 46 free throws and made 31 in the game.
"Saint Peter's was fouling us a lot and that took us a little out of our offense," Dempsey said. "We prefer to have more of an up and down the floor tempo. We are more of a free flowing team and that's why Saint Peter's gives us trouble at times. With that said, that strategy put them in a lot of foul trouble. Whatever the games dictates, you have to find a way to win and we did that today."
Trailing 49-34 with 9:30 left, Saint Peter's (16-14) went on an 11-2 run, five points by Ryan Bacon to cut the Rider lead to six with just under six minutes left. Bacon finished with a career-high 24 points and added 13 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass.
Leading 9-3, Rider went on a 13-3 run, five points by junior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), opening up a 16-point lead (22-6) with 7:58 left before the half. Ringgold finished with 15 points and added five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 32 minutes.
"Mike is one of the better players in this league," Dempsey said. "He played really well. Saint Peter's (and most teams) have a hard time with him. He is passing the ball really well and finding guys on the perimeter. You have to play him one on one and that is a tall order."
Trailing by 16, Saint Peter's scored 11 of the next 18 to cut the Bronc lead to 12 (29-17) with 1:37 left in the period.
The Broncs ended the half on a 5-0 run, three points by Thompson and went into the locker room leading 32-17.
Rider opened the game on a 6-0 run, two points each by sophomore Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), Ringgold and Thompson. Gadson finished with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Also for the Broncs, junior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) had 15 points, four rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes.
Also for the Peahens, Jeron Belin had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Saint Peter's out-rebounded Rider 44-29, including 21-6 on the offensive glass.
There were a combined 48 fouls called in the game with seven players fouling out, four by Saint Peter's.
"I think some of the fouls were a byproduct of the way Saint Peter's was playing (physical style)," Dempsey added. "And part of it is that we have some players that are really hard to guard. There were a lot of hand checks and a lot of bumping. We threw the ball inside, drove the ball into the paint and that normally gets you to the free throw line."
This was the 47th meeting between the Broncs and Saint Peter's and Rider has now won 24 times. The teams split the two regular season MAAC games this season with the Peahens winning 77-66 in Lawrenceville on January 15 and Rider returned the favor with a 72-66 win in Jersey City on February 15.
This is the second straight season that Rider has eliminated Saint Peter's in the quarterfinals, having defeated the Peahens 67-58 in 2009.
Saint Peter's eliminated Rider in the opening round in 2006 and defeated the Broncs in overtime in the 2003 and 2004 MAAC playoffs. Rider defeated the Peahens in the 2000 MAAC opening round.
The Broncs face the winner of #1 Siena vs. #9 Manhattan in the semifinals on Sunday at 4:00pm. The game will be televised on MSG. Rider lost in the 2008 championship game to Siena and in the 2009 semifinals to Niagara.
"We wanted to get this win to give us some momentum going into the semifinals on Sunday," Thompson said. "We played hard and we are excited to get the chance to play again in the semis."
"No matter who we play, we will have a challenge in front of us," Dempsey said about the Siena/Manhattan matchup possibility. "Manhattan played us very physical in both of our wins and Siena has embarrassed us twice. Both present a formidable matchup."
Siena defeated Manhattan 78-61 Friday evening.
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