November 14, 2006 - N.J.I.T 63 Rider 52
November 14, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's College Basketball
New Jersey Institute of Technology 63, Rider University 52
NEWARK—The Broncs lost the opener at NJIT Tuesday. “It’s a long haul, and this season won’t be defined by the way we played tonight,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Trailing 32-31 with 15:34 left to play, NJIT (2-0) out-scored Rider 11-1, six points by Marc Milbourne Swan, to take a 42-33 lead with 11:10 remaining. That was the ninth and final lead change of the game. Swan finished with a game-high 17 points.
“As a coach you never know what you are going to see on opening night, but that was not what I expected to see,” Dempsey said. “We had a good preseason and played well in our exhibition game, but we came out tonight and played nervous.”
Rider led 12-11 with just 7:48 left in the first half, and the score was tied at 21-21 at halftime, as both teams shot less than 35 percent in the first 20 minutes.
“We didn’t get off to a good start, and then we started to press,” Dempsey said. “We were trying to make too many things happen instead of letting the game come to us. We guarded them for the most part. They only shot 39 percent. Our struggles were putting the ball in the basket.”
For Rider (0-1), senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) scored 13 points, and sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA) added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled a ‘double-double’ with 10 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, but played just 27 minutes due to foul trouble.
“That is a problem that Jason battles,” Dempsey said. “He seems to still be a bit foul prone. He doesn’t seem to get the 50-50 call. He spent a lot of time on the bench.”
“Every minute I’m sitting on the bench due to foul trouble I’m hurting my team,” Thompson said. “I thought we played okay defensively but we weren’t scoring. We couldn’t get into an offensive flow. As bad as we were playing offensively the score was tied at half time. Just imagine if we were scoring. We could have been up 15 at the half. It was a very frustrating night.”
Sophomore Kevin Vosilla (Massapequa, NY) complied a career-high six points and a career-high six rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. “Kevin played hard,” Dempsey said. “I was pleased with the way Kevin played. He gave us good energy, he banged the glass. We only had seven offensive rebounds and he had three of them. I was pleased with his effort.”
NJIT out-rebounded Rider 48-34. “The thing I am most discouraged about is the fact that they dominated in the paint,” Dempsey said.
In its first season on the Division I level, NJIT is now 2-0 against MAAC teams, opening the season with a 56-55 win at Manhattan on November 11.
“We have a good shooting team, but six for 28 from three and 10 for 21 from the line are numbers that you are not going to win with,” Dempsey said. “You can’t go on the road and take 50 percent of your shots from three. That’s not a formula for winning on the road. We settled for too many jump shots.”
Rider travels to Boston University November 18 for a Saturday afternoon game. “We have one under our belt now,” said Dempsey. “Hopefully we can come out Saturday and play a lot looser. We have another chance to get a road win on Saturday.”
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