Men's College Basketball
Rider University 75, Saint Peter's College 72
LAWRENCEVILLE- On Senior Day, a junior stole the show. He also stole the ball with 12 seconds left and scored for the final score, sending his senior teammates away with a win.
Junior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) compiled 24 points and 10 rebounds and had a steal and basket for the final score, leading Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Saint Peter's Sunday afternoon.
It was the second straight 24-point game by Gadson. "Novar had an unbelievable weekend," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "His numbers (48 points, 22 rebounds) were great but more importantly it was the way he played. He rebounded, he played solid defense, and he shared the ball. He made very few mistakes."
For his efforts Gadson was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the final two games of the regular season.
"I've been watching a lot of game tape and I'm just trying to buy into the system," said Gadson, who now has 1,123 career points, 27th most ever at Rider. "Lately I've just been taking what the defense has been giving me."
Saint Peter's (17-13, 11-7 MAAC) took a 72-71 lead with 26 seconds left before Rider sophomore Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) made two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining for the sixth and final lead change of the game. Thompson finished with nine points in 22 minutes off the bench. "I made my first two free throws so I was confident going to the line at the end of the game," Thompson said. "I really didn't feel pressure because I had two shots and we were only trailing by one point."
Rider (22-9, 13-5 MAAC) ends the regular season having won five in a row, seven of its last eight and 10 of its last 12 games. "I'm really proud of the way this team played the entire season," Dempsey said. "It was a terrific year. We got better every step of the way, stayed together and played together. Today was a good way to end the regular season."
Trailing 59-54, Rider went on a 15-3 run, six points by junior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) and five points by Gadson, to take a 69-62 lead with 6:29 remaining. Penn finished with 10 points.
Gadson's three-pointer gave Rider a 64-62 lead with 8:31 left, Rider's first lead since 15-14 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Trailing 47-36, Rider went on a 14-5 run, six points by Gadson, to cut the lead to 52-50 with 13:37 remaining. "We settled in at half time and played really good team basketball," Dempsey said. 'That was a really good second half performance, both offensively and defensively."
Rider out-scored Saint Peter's 40-28 in the final 20 minutes.
Holding a 22-18 lead, SPC out-scored Rider 11-4, four points by Ryan Bacon, to take a 33-24 lead with 4:59 left in the first half and the Peacocks led 44-35 at intermission. Bacon finished with nine points and nine rebounds. "We were a little out of sorts in the first half," Dempsey said. "There was so much emotion (with senior day), so many guys really wanted to play well to send the seniors off with a win."
"It was a tale of two halves," said Saint Peter's head coach John Dunne. "We were very good defensively in the first half and we made our shots (50 percent from the field) and in the second half we lost our focus. But give Rider credit, they did a good job scoring in the paint." Rider out-scored SPC 32-18 in the paint.
Rider jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Saint Peter's went on an 11-0 run, nine points by Jenkins. Jenkins had 17 of the Peacocks' first 22 points. Jenkins finished with 19 points.
Playing in their final home games, senior Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) compiled eight points, 11 rebounds and a career-high nine assists and senior Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) had eight points. "I really wanted it for these guys today," Dempsey said of his senior class, which has compiled a program record 81 wins in its four years, breaking the old mark of 77 set by the 1993-96 teams. "Today had extra meaning. The significance of this game was sending these guys off with a win."
Also for Rider, freshman Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) added 11 points and freshman Danny Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added five points and nine rebounds.
"Rider was outstanding in the second half," Dunne said. "They are such a good shooting team."
Rider will now take part in the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship tournament, held at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT, as the third seed. Rider will play the sixth seed, Canisius at 10pm Saturday in the quarterfinals. Rider beat Canisius at the buzzer in Buffalo and lost to Canisius at the buzzer at Rider this season.
The official pairings will be announced by the MAAC office Monday.
"Ever since I've been here the best teams in the MAAC have played in the finals," Dempsey said. "I can't remember a year when the best teams were not in the finals. The cream seems to rise to the top."
On Sunday the cream rose to the top, even if he was not a senior.
-ru-
