Men's College Basketball
University of Florida 90, Rider University 69
JACKSONVILLE, FLA---The Broncs lost to the 12th ranked Florida Gators Friday evening in a 'neutral site' game held at the Jacksonville Veteran's Memorial Arena. "We competed," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "I am pleased with that. We played better, we're just not believing yet. Tonight should have been more competitive than it was, in my opinion."
Kenny Boynton led the Gators (7-2) with 26 points, five rebounds and three assists. A preseason First Team All-SEC pick, Boynton made five of nine three-point shots.
For Rider (1-9), senior Jeff Jones (Chester, PA/Monsignor Bonner) scored 20 points, making eight of 12 shots from the field, including two of three three-pointers.
Florida made three three-pointers in the first 3:33 of the second half in an 11-2 run, six points by freshman Bradley Beal, to take a 54-29 lead. Beal, the Gatorade National Player of the Year last season out of St. Louis, finished with 18 points.
Trailing 57-32, Rider out-scored Florida 14-9, five points by sophomore Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech), to cut the lead to 20, 66-46 with 12:42 left to play. Myles finished with 11 points, a career-high eight rebounds and three assists.
Florida center Patric Young led all scorers with 12 points in the first half but was held scoreless in the second half. Young, a 6-9, 250 pound sophomore forward who finished with 10 rebounds, is a Second Team All-SEC preseason pick this year.
Holding a 9-8 lead, Florida out-scored Rider 23-9, six points by Young, to take a 32-17 lead with 4:40 left in the first half, and the Gators led 43-27 at halftime.
Florida barely out-rebounded Rider 35-33. "We held our own on the glass," Dempsey said.
Both teams shot 49 percent from the field. Rider committed 13 turnovers against Florida's pressing defense. "That is not a bad number of turnovers against an aggressive pressing team," Dempsey said.
Rider senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added 12 points and seven rebounds, along with four assists.
Junior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones), playing his first game for Rider in his home state of Florida, finished with 10 points and four assists.
Rider sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added nine points and five rebounds.
Rider senior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), a preseason First Team All-MAAC selection, played just 10 minutes as he is still recovering from off-season knee surgery.
Rider freshman Junior Fortunat (Quebec, Canada/Roman Catholic) made his Rider debut and dunked just 14 seconds after entering the game, cutting the Florida lead to 9-6. Fortunat missed the first nine games while waiting to be cleared by the NCAA.
"Junior gave us another big body (6-9, 230) to go in there and crash the boards," Dempsey said. Fortunat finished with three rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. "He'll get better," Dempsey said. "This was a hard environment to throw him into. He competed well."
The last time Rider was 1-9 was when the Roughriders began the 1943-44 season 1-10. "I do believe we will be a good team," Dempsey said. "I do believe it is a process we are going through."
Jacksonville is 71 miles east of the UF campus in Gainesville
The Broncs return home to host Princeton Wednesday. That game will be televised on the Comcast Network. "Just another challenge," Dempsey said. "Obviously the non-league schedule has presented a lot of challenges, with a lot of different styles. Wednesday will be a different style. Hopefully we will be able to execute and get a win. We need to get a couple of wins under our belts."
-ru-
