December 20, 2006 - Villanova 108 Rider 61
December 20, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's College Basketball
Villanova University 108, Rider University 61
VILLANOVA, PA—The Broncs lost at Villanova Wednesday night. “We never really got into a flow tonight,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “It was a bit of a case of what could go wrong, did go wrong.”
Villanova (8-2) led 34-25 before out-scoring Rider 12-0 over the final 4:30 of the first half to take a 46-25 lead at halftime, and then scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a commanding 56-25 lead.
Rider (6-4) junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) picked up his third foul with 5:10 left in the first half of a 32-23 game. “Jason Thompson getting his third foul in the first half was key,” said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. “Jason is quick and can go out on the perimeter, so he makes for tough match ups. They have good shooters, too, so once Thompson was in foul trouble we were able to concentrate on the outside shooters.”
“Obviously, Jason picking up his third foul in a seven or eight point game helped them get it to 21 at half time and we never really recovered,” Dempsey said. “They were just much better than we were, all the way around.”
Thompson finished with 14 points and three rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) led the Broncs with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds. “There isn’t much you can take from a game like this,” Mouton said. “We just have to realize that on Friday everyone has to come out ready to play hard for 40 minutes.”
Holding a 19-14 lead, Villanova went on a 9-2 run, six by Dwayne Anderson, to take a 28-16 lead. Anderson finished with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Rider won the opening tip and scored the first points of the game on a jump shot by freshman Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), who finished with seven points and five assists.
Trailing 13-4, Rider went on a 10-6 run, six points by Mouton, to cut the lead to 19-14 with 11:30 left in the first half.
The Broncs led 4-2 before Villanova scored the next 11 points, six by Villanova senior forward Curtis Sumpter, to take a 13-4 lead. Sumpter finished with a game-high 22 points, to lead six Wildcats scoring in double figures.
“It was just one of those nights that happens a couple of times during the course of a season,” Dempsey said. “When it happens against a team this talented things can get out of hand.”
The fact that Rider beat Drexel this season and Drexel recently beat Villanova did not enter in tonight. “I knew we had to have four-five-six guys play well for us to be competitive tonight and that didn’t happen,” said Dempsey. “Against Drexel we were home in a great environment and several guys stepped up and played very well for us. Tonight that was not the case.”
Rider travels to Fairleigh Dickinson University Friday evening. “We have to move on quickly,” Dempsey said, “We have to start getting ready for FDU starting tomorrow.”
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