December 29, 2005 - Rider 63 Long Island 59
December 29, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Rider University 63, Long Island University 59
CHARLESTON, SC—Sophomore Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored 15 points, 13 in the second half, and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Rider to victory over LIU in the first round of the Charleston Holiday Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston. Rider will now play in the championship game Friday at 7:30 pm against the host team, College of Charleston. C of C defeated Longwood Thursday night. “We came here to play in the finals, and we are,” said Rider coach Tommy Dempsey.
Rider (4-4) trailed 58-56 before Thompson scored the next four points to give Rider a 60-58 lead, and Thompson scored an off-balance shot with 12.8 seconds left to give Rider a 62-59 lead. “That was the play,” said Dempsey, “to get the ball to the biggest guy on the floor. Jason made an incredible play.” Thompson made a foul shot with :07 left for the final score.
Thompson played just 13 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. “After 19 days off things were a little bit rusty,” said Thompson.
“Since we hadn’t played in a while we knew there would be some rust,” said Dempsey. “We knew we had to get it going with defense, and we did. The offense was a bit of a grind, but we’ll be better on Friday.”
Trailing 47-33, LIU (3-5) went on a 19-5 run, 10 points by James Williams. A three-pointer by Williams tied the score at 52-52. Another three-pointer by Williams gave LIU a 55-54 lead, its first lead since 2-0. Williams finished with a game-high 22 points. “We started turning the ball over once we had a big lead,” said Thompson, “and that let them get back into it.” Rider committed 11 of their 15 turnovers in the second half.
Holding a 36-31 lead, Rider went on a 9-0 run, three points each by junior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) and Thompson, to take a 45-31 lead with 14:20 left to play. Mouton finished with a team-high 16 points, making four of six three-pointers.
Rider jumped out to a 26-12 lead, making six of the first nine three-point field goal attempts, three of those three-pointers by Mouton. Rider made seven three-pointers for the game.
Trailing 28-15, LIU went on a 10-4 run late in the first half to cut the lead to 32-25, and Rider led 34-27 at the half.
Rider out-rebounded LIU 41-37.
Rider is the only team other than College of Charleston to win this tournament. C of C has won 16 games in a row in this tournament, and is 22-1 all-time. The only loss coming to Rider.
