January 18, 2007 - Manhattan 86 Rider 75
January 18, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's College Basketball
Manhattan College 86, Rider University 75
RIVERDALE, NY—Despite 21 points and six rebounds from sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA), and 20 points and nine rebounds from junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), the Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Manhattan Thursday night. “We caught Manhattan on a night that they played very well,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Freshman guard Antoine Pearson scored a career-high 21 points to lead Manhattan to its sixth in a row.
Holding a 57-56 lead, Manhattan (9-8, 6-1 MAAC) out-scored Rider 13-3, eight points by Pearson, to take a 70-59 lead with 6:00 left in the second half.
Rider (10-8, 4-4 MAAC) led 27-21 with 3:20 left in the first half before the Jaspers went on an 11-3 run, four points by Pearson, to take their first lead of the game, 32-30. Thompson’s shot at the buzzer tied the score at 32-32 at halftime.
“The game was played at a slow pace in the first half,” said Dempsey. ‘We tried to turn up the heat in the second half, but our guards had a hard time guarding their guards,” Dempsey said. “I thought we’d be able to guard them better.”
“We knew what they wanted to do, but we seemed too relaxed on defense,” said Mansell. “We didn’t seem to have enough energy.”
“They did a good job clogging the lane,” said Thompson. “Offensively, it was one of those days where I struggled, missing too many foul shots.”
Thompson was 8 for 14 from the foul line.
Rider jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first 3:30 of the game, five points by senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana). Mouton played just 13 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and finished with eight points and five assists.
Junior forward Arturo Dubois added 16 points for Manhattan.
Manhattan sophomore forward Devon Austin, who is averaging 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, did not play due to the flu.
The last time Rider won in Manhattan’s Draddy Gym was January 19, 2002, with the Jaspers winning the last five here.
Rider hosts Loyola Sunday at 4:00pm in a MAAC game televised on the Madison Square Garden Network.
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