December 3, 2005 - Rider 75 Monmouth 67
December 3, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Rider University 75, Monmouth University 67
WEST LONG BRANCH— Senior Edwin Muniz (Passaic) scored 28 points, and junior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) added 19, to lead Rider to victory at Monmouth Saturday. “I felt all year that our younger guys need to contribute, and our older guys need to carry us, and tonight the older guys carried us,” said Rider coach Tommy Dempsey.
Sophomore Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 15 points and 13 rebounds, despite shooting 3 for 12 from the field. “Jason gives us a ‘double-double’ even on an off night,” Dempsey said.
Holding a 66-64 lead with 3:14 left to play, Rider (2-3) went on a 7-0 run to take a 73-64 lead with :50 left. Trailing 36-32, Rider out-scored Monmouth 9-2, five by Muniz, to take a 41-38 lead with 15:00 left to play. “I took a shot from one of their players running down the court, and that sort of lit me up,” said Muniz, who came within one point of his career high. “I wanted to pay them back.”
Trailing 28-22, Rider out-scored Monmouth (1-4) 10-2 over the final 3:52 of the first half, five points by Thompson, to take a 32-30 lead at half time.
Rider led 15-8 before Monmouth went on an 11-0 run, five points by Marques Alston, to take a 19-15 lead mid-way through the first half. Alston led the Hawks with 21 points.
In the last 10 meetings between these two teams, the home team has won eight. The last time the visitor won was when Rider won in West Long Branch during the 1997-98 season. Rider won the last five meetings in Lawrenceville, and eight of the last nine in Alumni Gym. “Monmouth is always a good opponent, especially here,” said Dempsey.
Rider out-rebounded Monmouth 43-29. “That was something we discussed coming in, that we needed to control the boards, and we did,” Dempsey said.
Mouton made eight of 15 field goals attempts and added seven rebounds and five assists for his best game of the season. “This was a character game for Terrance,” said Dempsey.
Rider begins MAAC play Wednesday at Iona. “We felt this was a must-win tonight,” said Dempsey. “We’ve been playing good basketball, yet we were 1-3. We needed a win to feel good about ourselves, and we needed a win on the road before heading to Iona Wednesday.”
-RU-
