Men's College Basketball
University of Pittsburgh 86, Rider University 78
PITTSBURGH, Pa.--Rider head basketball coach Tommy Dempsey does not believe in 'moral victories.' Not after winning by 20 points at USC last year or after winning at Mississippi State the year before.
But if he did believe in them, he would have had one Sunday night. "It was punch, counter-punch the whole way and just a great college basketball game," Dempsey said. "We just came up a little short."
The Broncs lost to 10th ranked Pitt Sunday evening as part of the Hoop Group Classic.
Rider led 73-72 with 5:00 left before Pitt went on a 7-0 run to take a 79-73 lead. That was the sixth and final lead change of the game.
This just two days after losing by 26 points at Robert Morris. "We were embarrassed Friday night and I thought there was a real competitive response from our team," Dempsey said. "I was proud of our effort. We played good team basketball tonight. We came here to win a basketball game, There are no such things as moral victories in our locker room. We fell short of our goal."
Pitt made four of six foul shots in the final 42 seconds to preserve the win. "They have so many weapons," Dempsey said of Pitt. "I thought Pitt played well."
For Rider (0-2), sophomore Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) scored a career-high 20 points for the second time in as many games this season. "I'm not really a point guard but my team really helped me out there tonight," Myles said. "I really felt we were going to win this game."
Sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) scored a career-high 18 points.
Rider senior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) compiled 17 points in 36 minutes,15 points in the first half. "We knew we had to have a better response tonight," Gadson said. "There was a lot of pride on the line after the game Friday."
Senior Jeff Jones (Chester, PA/Monsignor Bonner) added 15 points in 38 minutes of work. "We won't use being tired as an excuse," Jones said. "We knew what we had to do. We fought out there tonight."
"With a short bench these guys knew they were going to play a lot of minutes," Dempsey said. "They stepped up and responded against one of the best teams in the country."
Rider led 65-60 before Pitt (2-0) went on a 10-3 run, four points by Nasir Robinson, to take a 70-68 lead. Gadson quickly tied it at 70, the sixth tie of the game, with 5:30 remaining, and senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) made a three-point field goal to give Rider a 73-72 lead. Penn finished with eight points and four assists.
Rider out-scored Pitt 9-2 over the final 2:08 of the first half, six points by Gadson, to tie the score at 45-45 on a three-point field goal by Jones. The Broncs shot 58.6 percent in the first half (17-29), making five of 12 three-pointers, and shot 53.6 percent for the game.
"We had good ball movement tonight," Dempsey said. "We dragged their 'bigs' out to guard us on the perimeter."
Rider committed just five turnovers.
Trailing 30-16, Rider out-scored Pitt 13-2, five points by Gadson, to cut the lead to 32-29 with 6:48 left to play before intermission.
Pitt jumped out to a 17-5 lead, making four three-pointers in the first four minutes.
Pitt senior guard Ashton Gibbs, the preseason Big East Conference Player of the Year, finished with a game-high 24 points.
Gibbs also garnered preseason Sporting News All-America Third Team and a Dick Vitale First-Team All-America (Solid Gold) honors.
The Panthers finished the 2010-11 season 28-6, the 28th win coming in the NCAA Tournament over UNC Ashville. The Panthers won the Big East Regular Season Title last year. Pitt lost two of its last three games, to UConn in the Big East Tournament and to Butler in the NCAA Tournament. Pitt was 17-1 at home last season.
The Broncs and Panthers met for the first time last season, with third ranked Pitt winning by 19 points.
Rider plays the home opener Tuesday at 6am against Drexel. That game will be televised on ESPN.
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