Men's College Basketball
Rider University 74, Niagara University 73
LAWRENCEVILLE- Super refers to something very large, great or extreme, something of superior size, quality or grade. It comes from the Latin meaning 'above' or 'beyond'
There is Superman, superstar, Super Mario, and of course the Super Bowl.
On Super Sunday, the Broncs put together a super comeback, trailing by as many as 17 points with less than 12 minutes to go.
Senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) made a three-point field goal with 0.8 seconds left to give Rider a 74-73 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Niagara Sunday afternoon.
Penn was 0 for 8 from three-point range prior to that shot. "Brandon was oh for eight and everyone on our bench, including me, still thought his shot was going to go in," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
"I was measuring it up," Penn said of his game-winner. "I saw my defender backing up so once I got the ball I was ready. It felt good." Penn finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Antoine Mason banked in a shot with 6.6 seconds left to give Niagara (9-16, 4-9 MAAC) a 73-71 lead. Mason finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Niagara's Marvin Jordan made consecutive three-point field goals, his seventh and building record-tying eighth of the game, to give Niagara a 71-64 lead with 3:11 left to play. Jordan finished with 24 points off the bench. "Jordan put on a show," Dempsey said. "His last three or four three's were hard-guarded, with guys in his face."
Rider (10-15, 7-6 MAAC) then scored the next seven points to tie it at 71, when junior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) made a three-pointer, senior Jeff Jones (Chester, PA/Monsignor Bonner) made a foul shot and sophomore Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) made a three-pointer with 38 seconds left.
Thompson finished with 11 points and seven assists. Jones finished with 18 points and Myles finished with 13 points off the bench. "Today was an emotional win," said Jones, who has compiled 78 points in his last five games. "Guys kept fighting, no matter what. We were down big in the second half but never stopped."
Trailing 59-42, Rider went on a 22-3 run, eight points by Myles and six points each by Jones and Thompson, to take a 64-62 lead with 6:29 left to play. "Today's game was indicative of the season in so many ways," Dempsey said. "Our guys continue to band together and fight through adversity. Our guys rallied."
"It is all about being resilient," Myles said of the comeback. "Brandon's shot is a perfect example. He didn't think of the previous eight he missed. He knew what we needed and he delivered."
Holding a 48-37 lead, Niagara out-scored Rider 9-3 to take a 57-40 lead with 13:28 left to play.
"I'm proud of the way we hung in there," Dempsey said. "We fell behind big and didn't seem to have a lot of energy, especially during that stretch when they took the game over. It would have been easy to fold."
Rider led 27-24 before Niagara went on a 13-3 run, six points by Jordan, to take a 37-30 lead, and Niagara led 41-32 at the half.
Trailing 20-12, Niagara went on a 10-2 run, six points by Jordan, to tie the score at 22-22 with 8:59 left in the first half. "Jordan was tremendous," said Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich. "This was a great game, very competitive. Give Rider credit, they had to make a lot of shots to get back in it and they did. They made some contested threes. I think Rider has the second or third most talent in the league. Once they get it going and they're feeling good they are hard to stop."
The victory was the fourth for Rider in the last five games. The loss was the fifth straight for Niagara.
Niagara has not won at Rider since the 2006-07 season.
Rider and Niagara have now met 34 times since the series began in 1991-92, with Rider winning 15, including the last five and seven of the last nine.
Rider makes the annual Western New York trip to take on Canisius Thursday night and Niagara Saturday afternoon. "If we play good basketball the rest of the month we'll be well into the mix," Dempsey said.
Hopefully Rider will not need a super human effort to do that.
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