January 12, 2007 - Rider 64 Fairfield 63
January 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's College Basketball
Rider University 64, Fairfield University 63
BRIDGEPORT, CT--It doesn’t matter who starts the game, what matters is who finishes. Junior Joel Green (Philadelphia, PA/Harrison) came in off the bench and made two foul shots with 1.9 seconds left to give Rider a come-from-behind Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at Fairfield Friday. “We had a quality possession leading up to those foul shots,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We had a good shot, got an offensive rebound, made a nice drive to the basket and when it wasn’t there a nice pass to Joel, who completed the play.”
“I think it is more important to finish a game than start one,” said Green, who started the first 11 games of the season but has come in off the bench in the last five. “It shows the coaching staff trusts you to make the correct decisions and make the correct plays.”
“I am so proud of Joel,” said Dempsey. “Not just for making the foul shots tonight, which were huge, but for the way he has handled the adversity.”
Green scored just eight points over the last five games, before scoring eight points against Fairfield Friday. “When I was at the line I was just thinking ‘make ‘em and game over.’ I’ve been in similar situations before, but never with that little time left,” Green said. “Once the first one went in it made the second one a heck of a lot easier to make.”
“Joel has worked extremely hard to get out of his slump, and I had a good feeling before the game that he was going to have a good night,” Dempsey said.
Trailing 60-51 with 4:52 left to play, Rider (10-6, 4-2 MAAC) went on an 11-2 run, seven points by senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana), to tie the score at 62-62 with 1:19 left to play. Mouton made one of two foul shots to tie the score and finished with a game-high 21 points, making five three-pointers in the game.
“We’ve come from behind a number of times this year, and it is a testament to the calmness of our point guard (Mouton),” Dempsey said. “We never get frazzled out there, we just keep fighting and the guys believe in each other. There may be a better guard out there but there isn’t a guard out there who makes bigger shots than Terrance. He has always made big plays for us. On the last play Terrance drove the lane and when the shot wasn’t there, made the pass to Joel, who went up strong.”
Fairfield’s Jonathan Han made one of two foul shots with 26 seconds left to give the Stags (3-15, 1-5 MAAC) a 63-62 lead. Han finished with 10 points.
Holding a 40-39 lead, Fairfield went on a 15-5 run, five by Greg Nero, to take a 55-44 lead with 7:10 left to play. Nero finished with 14 points.
Trailing 29-23 at halftime, Rider scored the first seven points of the second half, four by junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) and three by Mouton, to take a 30-29 lead. Thompson finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Rider led 8-5 before Fairfield went on a 13-3 run, making three three-pointers, to take an 18-11 lead with 6:46 left in the first half. Herbie Allen came in off the bench and made two of those three-pointers and finished with 11 points, one of five Stags in double figures.
Rider sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA) added 15 points and three assists.
The victory came just 10 days after the Broncs defeated Fairfield 58-55 at Rider
Rider hosts Niagara Sunday at 2:00 pm.
-RU-
