November 21, 2006 - Rider 77 University of Delaware 67
November 21, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Rider University 77, University of Delaware 67
Holding a 53-45 lead, Rider went on a 9-3 run, six points by Thompson, to take a 62-48 lead with 9:20 left to play.
Trailing 69-54, Delaware went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 71-64 with 1:19 left to play, but that was as close as the Blue Hens could get. “We haven’t played with a big lead in a while so it was a bit of a learning experience,” Dempsey said. “I think next time we play with a big lead we’ll be a little bit more prepared for it.”
Rider made six of eight foul shots in the final 1:06, three by Mansell, to preserve the victory. “I think this is the real Harris we are seeing now,” Dempsey said. “We had very high expectations of him when we recruited him and he has given us three solid games so far this year.”
“This was another big win for us on the road,” Mansell said. “That is usually a sign of a good team, winning on the road. The home team comes out and brings a lot of pressure, and you have to be ready for that. They don’t want to lose at home in front of their own fans, so they have a lot of energy. Their play raises the level of our play.”
Holding a 25-20 lead, Rider out-scored Delaware 10-0, six points by senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana), to take a 35-20 lead with 3:30 left in the first half. Mouton finished with 18 points and four assists. “T and Jason were leading us tonight,” Mansell said.
Delaware out-scored Rider 9-2 to start the second half, cutting the Bronc lead to 41-39, before back-to-back three pointers by Mansell and Mouton gave Rider a 47-39 lead with 16:00 remaining.
“Jason was tremendous inside, and the inside game was opened up by Terrance and Harris’ ability to do what they did on the perimeter,” Dempsey said.
Trailing 9-5, Rider went on a 20-5 run, eight points by Thompson and six by Mansell, to take a 25-14 lead with 7:43 left in the first half.
Rider led 39-30 at halftime, shooting 65 percent from the field (15-23) over the first 20 minutes, including five of seven three-pointers. Rider shot 58 percent from the field for the game, and out-rebounded Delaware 35-26.
The Broncs have now won five of the last six meetings with Delaware. Rider is 28-31 against Delaware, but just 8-20 in Newark. “This has been a great little rivalry,” Dempsey said. “We’ve been very successful against them lately, but we haven’t gotten many of them here. This has been a tough place for us to play.”
The victory was Rider’s second consecutive road win. The last time Rider won consecutive road games was January of 2005, when the Broncs won at Saint Peter’s, at Loyola and at Penn. “We didn’t get to do that last year, so for us to do it already this year is something we’re all excited about,” Thompson said.
“I’m happy to change that streak,” Dempsey said. “That wasn’t something any of us was proud of. I told the team in Boston we needed to get one, and now to get two, hopefully this team is beginning to turn the corner. Overall I’m pleased with the effort tonight and hopefully we’ll be able to follow this up on Saturday.”
Rider hosts Northeastern Saturday at 3pm in the season home opener. “We can’t wait,” Dempsey said. “Normally you don’t go to Thanksgiving weekend before you play your first home game. We’ve been anxious to get home. I wanted to take this team on the road early and exercise some of those demons from last year on the road and I think we’ve done that.”
“It’s good to play at home,” Thompson said. “We have to use that to our advantage over the next three games to get three wins.”
“I’m excited to finally play at home,” Mansell said, “especially coming home with two wins in a row. The way we’re playing right now is fun to watch, so hopefully people will come out and see us. It will be fun to try to snowball a few more wins.”
-RU-
