March 3, 2006 - Saint Peter's 80 Rider 51
March 3, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball-MAAC Playoffs
Saint Peter's College 80, Rider University 51
ALBANY, NY—Despite the return of injured All-MAAC forward Jason Thompson, the Rider University men’s basketball season came to an end Friday in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship tournament, losing to fifth seeded Saint Peter’s in the Pepsi Arena. “I don’t think we ever gave in, but I’m a little astonished at the result,” said Rider coach Tommy Dempsey.
For Rider (8-20), sophomore Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Rider’s leading scorer (16.5) and rebounder (8.4), Thompson returned to the line up after suffering a concussion 7:03 into the game last Friday against Loyola and missed the regular season finale on Sunday against Saint Peter’s. “My injury was serious, and I didn’t want to take any chances, but I’m glad I was able to play, and I played as hard as I could,” said Thompson.
“It was the doctor’s decision to let Jason play today,” said Dempsey. “As long as he was medically cleared to play, I was comfortable with him playing.”
Trailing 21-9, Rider went on an 8-2 run, six points by Thompson, to cut the lead to 23-17 with 7:00 left in the first half.
Trailing 54-28, freshman Lamar Johnson (Scranton, PA) hit back-to-back three-point field goals to cut the lead to 54-34 with 12:11 left to play. Johnson finished with six points, two steals, one rebound and on assist in 15 minutes off the bench.
Senior Paul Johnson (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem) added eight points, three rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal in his final Rider game.
Saint Peter’s senior guard Keydren Clark, the MAAC Player of the Year this season, led all scorers with 19 points, 7.6 points below his season average.
Holding a 29-22 lead, Saint Peter’s (15-14) scored the last six points of the first half to take a 35-22 lead into the locker room, and out-scored Rider 9-2 to start the second half, taking a 44-24 lead with 18:08 left to play. “Saint Peter’s really played well,” said Dempsey. “We’ve always found a way to battle out of it when we fell behind but we had no answers today.”
With the score tied at 9-9, Saint Peter’s went on a 12-0 run, five points by Clark, to take a 21-9 lead mid-way through the first half.
Senior Edwin Muniz (Passaic) added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in his Rider career finale. Muniz graduates with 1,309 points, 14th highest ever at Rider. “It’s a sad way to end my career,” said Muniz. “I’m going to learn a lot from this experience and it is going to help me with my life after basketball.”
“My first year as the head coach has been great,” said Dempsey, “but I am disappointed in the way it ended.”
-RU-
