Men's College Basketball
Rider University 88, Manhattan College 78
LAWRENCEVILLE- Senior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) scored 23 points, 21 in the second half, and three other Broncs scored in double figures to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Manhattan Monday night.
"Just a hard-fought MAAC win," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "We need to be prepared for these kinds of battles for the next two months."
Robinson was eight for eight from the foul line, all in the second half. "Justin played a terrific second half," Dempsey said.
Freshman Danny Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Stewart was the MAAC Rookie of the Week last week when he scored a career-high 15 points. "I'm starting to get used to things," Stewart said. "I'm finding my rhythm."
Rider (10-5, 2-1 MAAC) trailed 57-55 before going on an 18-4 run, seven points by Stewart, to take a 73-61 lead with 4:06 left to play. That was the fourth and final lead change.
"Danny has been a terrific freshman," Dempsey said. "He understands his role and he's found his niche."
Trailing 46-37, Manhattan (2-11, 0-3 MAAC) out-scored Rider 14-4, eight points by George Beamon, to take its first lead, 51-50, with 12 minutes left in the second half. Beamon finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss extended Manhattan's losing streak to 11 games. "They came in here on a losing streak and were motivated," Dempsey said. "They hung in there and played well. They made a lot of plays. Give Manhattan credit."
Holding a 32-31 lead, Rider went on a 12-2 run, seven points by junior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), to take a 44-33 lead with 16:32 left to play. Gadson finished with 15 points and has now compiled 55 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and four blocks in his last three games, making 21 of 39 shots from the field and 11 of 16 foul shots.
Trailing 25-10, Manhattan went on a 17-2 run, five points by Demetrius Jemison, to tie the score at 27-27, and Rider led 32-29 at the half. Jemison finished with 15 points.
"We stopped being aggressive and that let them back in it," said Robinson, who scored 16 points in the final 4:30 of the game. "My teammates did a good job of finding me down the stretch."
Rider jumped out to a 16-8 lead, eight points by senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), who finished with nine points.
Freshman Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) came in off the bench and compiled 12 points and six rebounds, including 10 points in the first half. "Anthony can come in and give us some offensive punch, and he did that in the first half tonight,' Dempsey said. "He was a big part of getting us that 25-10 lead."
Junior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added eight points and five rebounds.
Sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) added seven points and seven assists. "Jon was terrific," Dempsey said of his defensive specialist. "He didn't have a turnover and gave us another guard out there. He gives us incredible stability. He makes good decisions and he's a winner. He always finds himself on the floor at the end of the game."
The Broncs have now won six of their last eight games, with the two losses being at #6 Pitt and in overtime at Drexel. Pitt and Drexel are a combined 22-3.
The Broncs and Jaspers have now met 37 times since the series began in 1929-30, with Rider winning 20. Since Rider joined the MAAC, the Broncs are 19-11 against the Jaspers, including 1-1 in post-season. Rider has now won eight of the last nine meetings with Manhattan, including the last four.
Rider beat Manhattan by 29 points on December 2. "We made very few mistakes that game," Dempsey said. "We played an almost perfect game up there. You very rarely blow out a team twice in this league. I expected a hard-fought game tonight and that's what we got."
Rider travels to Western New York to play Niagara Friday night on ESPNU and Sunday afternoon at Canisius.
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