January 10, 2006 - Fairfield 85 Rider 81
January 10, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Fairfield University 85, Rider University 81
LAWRENCEVILLE--The Broncs lost to Fairfield in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Rider Tuesday. “I thought it was a very well played game, and I’m proud of the way we played,” said Rider coach Tommy Dempsey.
Rider (4-8, 0-4 MAAC) led 78-77 with 2:37 left before Fairfield (4-8, 2-2 MAAC) went on a 6-0 run, three points by Herbie Allen, to take an 83-78 lead. Allen came in off the bench to score 17 points, making all five of his three-point shots. “We recruited Herbie to come here, so maybe he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder,” said Dempsey. “It came down to him and Rodney (Pierce) and we took Rodney. Herbie probably feels pretty good right now.”
Fairfield led 70-59 before the Broncs went on a 15-2 run, six points by senior Edwin Muniz (Passaic), to take a 74-72 lead with 4:10 left. That was Rider’s first lead since 9-8. Muniz finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, making all 10 of his foul shots.
Terrence Todd scored 26 points and had six assists to lead Fairfield. “Todd hit some great fall away shots,” Dempsey said. “Sometimes you just have to take your hat off to your opponent.”
Fairfield led 14-13 before going on an 11-2 run, seven points by Todd, to take a 25-15 lead. Trailing 28-17, Rider out-scored Fairfield 10-2, four points by sophomore Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape), to cut the lead to 30-27, and Fairfield led 40-37 at half time. Thompson finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, making 10 of 14 foul shots. “I was a little frustrated early,” said Thompson, who had just six points in the first half.
Rider made 10 of 28 three-pointers. “We don’t want to shoot that many three-pointers,” said Muniz. “We’re trying to get the ball inside as much as we can.”
For the game, Rider made 21 of 25 foul shots. “We got to the line a lot,” said Dempsey. “We were pounding the ball down low, but they were collapsing in on us, leaving open three-pointers, so we had to take what they were giving us.”
Junior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) made six of Rider’s 10 three-pointers and finished with 22 points, tying his career high.
Fairfield made 16 three-point field goals. “We didn’t expect them to make that many three-pointers,” said Mouton. “They had good ball movement and they hit the open shots.”
The Broncs travel to Manhattan Friday.
-RU-
