Men's College Basketball-Exhibition
Rider University 74, East Stroudsburg University 61
LAWRENCEVILLE--The Broncs defeated Division II East Stroudsburg Saturday in the final tune-up before the start of the 2011-12 season. "I liked the fact that we got to put the uniforms on and play a quality opponent," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "That is what these exhibition games are for. I'm not sure what you learn from beating a lesser team by 30 points. We got what we wanted today."
For Rider, senior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) compiled 20 points and nine rebounds, while senior Jeff Jones (Chester, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) added 15 points in his Rider debut.
"This was a good test for us," said Gadson, a preseason First Team All-MAAC selection who enters the season with 1,153 career points and 622 career rebounds. "It was nice to play against someone else. I'm glad we came out with a win but we still have a lot of work to do."
"It felt good to be out there for the first time in over a year," said Jones, who sat out last season as a transfer from the University of Virginia, where he scored 555 points. "It felt good to be back on the court."
The two seniors combined for 12 field goals, including four three-pointers, and seven foul shots. "It starts with us, me and Novar," Jones said. "Whatever we do everyone else will follow. We have to be the senior leaders."
Trailing 61-43, Stroudsburg went on a 10-3 run, five points by Terrance King, to cut the lead to 64-53 with 7:58 remaining, but that was as close as the Warriors could get. "I was impressed with East Stroudsburg," Dempsey said. "They were very physical, tough kids. I think once we got a big lead we lost our zip in the second half."
For ESU senior guard Russell Graham III compiled 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Both teams had 45 rebounds but ESU compiled 21 offensive rebounds.
"They came in here and fought us," Dempsey said. "They are a good team that I think will win a lot of games."
King, a preseason All-PSAC selection, finished with four points in just 12 minutes of action before fouling out.
"I give Stroudsburg a lot of credit," Jones said. "They fought to the end."
With the scored tied at 15-15, Rider went on a 20-9 run, five points by junior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) and four by Gadson, to take a 35-24 lead, and the Broncs led 42-28 at the half.
Thompson finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
Also for Rider, sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Junior forward Duane Johnson added 12 points for Stroudsburg.
Rider defeated East Stroudsburg 69-55 prior to the 2008-09 season. Last year Rider defeated The College of New Jersey 80-42 in the preseason exhibition game and in 2009-10 the Broncs defeated West Chester 75-52.
Rider begins the season in Western Pennsylvania, taking on former Northeast Conference rival Robert Morris on November 11 and the University of Pittsburgh November 13.
Rider returns to Alumni Gymnasium to host Drexel at 6:00 am on Tuesday, November 15 on ESPN.
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