February 26, 2006 - Saint Peter's 77 Rider 64
February 26, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Saint Peter's College 77, Rider University 64
LAWRENCEVILLE—The Broncs ended the regular season with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference loss to Saint Peter’s Sunday, and will now turn around and play Saint Peter’s again Friday in the first round of the MAAC Championship tournament in Albany, NY. “I’ve been preaching to the guys that once the tournament starts, everyone is 0-0,” said Rider coach Tommy Dempsey. “We can win four games in four days. It can be done.”
Trailing 59-50, Rider (8-19, 4-14 MAAC) went on a 7-0 run, three points by freshman Rodney Pierce (Buffalo, NY/Hutchinson Tech), to cut the lead to 59-57 with 6:08 left to play. Pierce finished with 15 points after scoring a career-high 16 points in his last game.
Trailing 25-16, Rider went on a 12-2 run, six points by junior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana), to take a 28-27 lead with 2:27 left in the first half. Saint Peter’s led 35-33 at half time. Mouton finished with 16 points off the bench.
“I’m disappointed in that the last four minutes took the sting out of a pretty good performance,” said Dempsey. “It was a good 35 minutes.”
Holding a 61-58 lead with 5:09 left to play, the Peacocks went on a 10-4 run, six points by Kaimondre Owes, to take a 71-62 lead with 1:36 left to play. Owes finished with 14 points. “They caught us sleeping a couple of times in the last few minutes, and you can’t afford to give up easy baskets at crunch time,” Dempsey said.
Keydren Clark led Saint Peter’s with 21 points, while Todd Sowell added 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Peacocks (14-14, 9-9 MAAC).
Holding a 17-16 lead mid-way through the first half, Saint Peter’s went on an 8-0 run to take a 25-16 lead with 5:33 left in the first half.
Senior Paul Johnson (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem) enjoyed his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds in his final home game. “The day started out so good, with the ceremony and everything,” said Johnson. “I have nothing but good feelings about the Broncs’ Zoo. My four years here was a great experience that I would not trade for anything. Last year we had a great team, and many of us on that team experienced a year like this year as freshmen. Now this year it was good for us seniors to help the young guys through this season, and so they can go on and have a great year or two down the road.”
Senior Edwin Muniz (Passaic) compiled eight points and eight rebounds in his final home game. “It was kind of emotional playing the last game, and I struggled today,” said Muniz. “ I wish I could have ended on a better note, but hopefully I will be able to make up for that on Friday. I’m looking forward to the tournament. Over the past three years I’ve learned that things can be so different once the tournament starts. Everyone has a chance, and I have a lot of confidence in our chances.”
Rider will play Saint Peter’s in the first round of the MAAC Championship Tournament Friday at 4:30 pm in Albany, NY.
“Going into the tournament we’re playing better,” said Dempsey. “We’ve gotten better. We lost some tough games the last couple of weeks. The quality of basketball has improved the last few weeks, and I’m very confident. We’ve meshed as a team, and I see a lot of very positive signs. If you’re playing well at the right time of year, you have an opportunity to do something special in March. If we win Friday, we can get some momentum going and make some noise in this tournament. That is our plan.”
-RU-
