Men's College Basketball
Rider University 80, Marist College 64
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY- For the second place Broncs, junior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) is second on the team in scoring, second in rebounding, second in blocked shots and second in free throws made. On Friday night, Novar was second to none, compiling 24 points, one shy of his career high, and 12 rebounds, leading Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Marist.
"We just feel fortunate to come in here and win tonight," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "This was a game I was concerned about. I stressed all week to the players that this is a game we better be mentally ready for, knowing we had a big game at home on Sunday."
Rider (21-9, 12-5 MAAC) finished the regular season a best-ever 13-4 on the road, including 8-1 on the road in conference games. "This has been a really tough, resilient group," Dempsey said. "On the road especially."
Trailing 54-37, Marist (5-25, 3-14 MAAC) went on a 12-5 run, six points by Sam Prescott, to cut the lead to 59-49 with 9:41 left to play. Prescott finished with 18 points.
Trailing 67-57, Marist out-scored Rider 4-0 to cut the lead to 67-61 with 6:21 remaining, but that was as close as the Red Foxes could get. "Once we got the big lead we sort of lost our intensity," Dempsey said.
Rider out-scored Marist 13-3 over the final 6:21 of the game, six points by sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones), who finished with 16 points, tying his career high. "Once it got a little too close for comfort we turned it on again," Dempsey said.
Rider jumped out to a 24-7 lead, nine points by Gadson, build a 30-10 lead, and led 38-24 at the half. "Our guys were ready," Dempsey said. "We came out of the blocks and got off to a big lead."
Marist missed its first 17 three-point shots and finished three for 27 from beyond the arc. "We worked all week on contesting their threes," Dempsey said. "Our three-point defense was pretty good. We wanted to make sure they didn't beat us with the three-ball."
The 21 wins is the second most ever by a Rider team (also in 1994). The Rider record is 23 wins, set in 2008.
The victory was Rider's sixth in the last seven games, ninth in the last 11 games and 15th in the last 19 games.
Coaches of all sports often tell their young players to 'act like they've done it before.' Senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) has now done it more than anybody. Playing in his Rider-record 129th career game, Ringgold compiled 14 points and seven rebounds.
The old record for games played by a Bronc was 128, set last year by Ryan Thompson.
The loss was the 12th for Marist in its last 13 games.
Rider senior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) added seven assists and five rebounds. Freshman Danny Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added 13 points and five rebounds
Rider hosts Saint Peter's in the regular season finale Sunday at 1:30 in a game televised on the Madison Square Garden Network. A Senior Day ceremony will take place 20 minutes prior to the opening tip.
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