Men's College Basketball
Saint Peter's College 80, Rider University 60
JERSEY CITY--In popular culture, Saint Peter is depicted as guarding the "pearly gates" or the gateway to Heaven. Possessing the second best defense in the MAAC, Saint Peter's guarded the Broncs Saturday, causing a season-high 20 turnovers and holding them to 60 points in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory.
"We didn't score easily," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, "and that's a credit to the defense Saint Peter's was playing. And when you are not scoring it makes life tough."
The game was Rider's third road game of the week. "It was a long week, but we told the players we can't go up to Saint Peter's with the mentality that it is hard to win three MAAC road games in a week," Dempsey said. "If you do you really don't have a chance. I think Saint Peter's just out-played us today. We were really sloppy with the ball."
Holding a 63-55 lead, Saint Peter's (13-9, 8-3 MAAC) out-scored Rider 17-5 over the final six minutes of the game, eight points by Ryan Bacon, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
With the victory, the Peacocks are 8-1 at home and in sole possession of second place."We ran into a team that is playing well and plays well on their home floor," Dempsey said.
For Rider (15-8, 7-4 MAAC), senior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) compiled 16 points, while junior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) and freshman Danny Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) each added 11 points and combined for 14 rebounds.
The loss snapped a three-game Bronc winning streak. It was just Rider's third loss in the last 12 games.
Holding a 44-43 led, Saint Peter's out-scored Rider 13-5, four points by Darius Conley, to take a 57-48 lead with 8:56 left to play. Conley finished with eight points.
Saint Peter's trailed 18-15 before going on a 10-3 run, four points each by Jeron Belin and Wesley Jenkins, to take a 25-21 lead, and the Peacocks led 31-29 at the half. Belin finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, while Jenkins added 11 points.
The Peacocks trailed 14-8 before going on a 7-0 run, five by Steven Samuels, to take their first lead of the game, 15-14, with 8:35 left in the first half. Samuels finished with 13 points.
Rider scored the first eight points of the game and led 10-2, four points by senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic). Ringgold finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) added five points and eight assists with just two turnovers. Thompson now leads the MAAC in assist to turnover ratio..
Rider had defeated Saint Peter's eight of the last 10 meetings. Since Rider joined the MAAC the Broncs are now 19-14 against the Peacocks, 16-11 in regular season games. "This is a rivalry game, it has been for years," Dempsey said. "Two veteran teams who have met eight times in the last three years before today. We've had their number a little bit and they came out and played great against us today."
The Broncs return to Alumni Gym to host Loyola February 4. "Overall it was a good week (2-1)," Dempsey said. "Now we have to go home and get ready for Loyola."
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