February 11, 2007 - Rider 98 Canisius 88
February 11, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Rider University 98, Canisius College 88
LAWRENCEVILLE--Crunch Time. In February, teams want to be playing at the top of their game. The Rider Broncs have won two in a row and four of their last six, after defeating Canisius by 10 points Sunday. “This was a big weekend for us,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Rider to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win. “Jason delivered today,” said Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta. “He’s very talented, he runs the floor like a guard and he works hard.” Thompson has now compiled 14 ‘double-doubles’ this year and 27 for his career.
Thompson currently ranks second in the MAAC in both scoring and rebounding. He is the only player to rank among the top four in BOTH categories. He also leads the MAAC in free throws made and blocks, but it was another stat that caught Coach Dempsey’s eye. “We had 25 assists,” Dempsey said. “The sharing of the basketball is what I am most proud of. We played unselfish basketball today.”
Holding a 58-57 lead, Rider (14-11, 8-7 MAAC) went on a 16-7 run, six points each by senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) and sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA), to take a 74-64 lead with 9:35 left to play. Mouton finished with 18 points and seven assists while Mansell had 17 points and five assists. “Every time we made a run they had an answer,” Parrotta said.
“Down the stretch the guards were making shots,” Thompson said. “The defense began to concentrate more on them so we called some post plays.”
Rider sophomore Lamar Johnson (Scranton, PA/Scranton) made five three-point field goals and finished with 18 points. “The guards love Jason,” Johnson said. “His inside game opens everything up for the outside shooters.”
“Our basketball IQ is pretty good,” Dempsey said. “We look to work it inside to Jason, and when they double and triple cover him, he kicks it out and we were able to make our shots.”
As a team, Rider made a season-high 15 three-pointer field goals, nine in the second half, shooting 52 percent from three-point range (15-29). “Jason is a good passer and they made shots today,” Parrotta said. “They beat us and I take my hat off to them.”
The 15 three-pointers is the most in one game for Rider since making 15 of 27 in a 94-67 win at Robert Morris February 19, 1996.
Trailing 25-20, Rider went on a 9-0 run, six points by Thompson, to take a 33-25 lead with 4:30 left in the first half, and Rider led 47-40 at half time on Thompson’s lay up at the buzzer.
Rider freshman Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled his first collegiate ‘double-double’ with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. “Ryan was terrific and played a complete game today,” Dempsey said. “He was all over the glass and his confidence is really developing right now.”
For Canisius (11-14, 6-9 MAAC) senior guard Chuck Harris scored a game-high 28 points and Corey Herring scored 25 points. Canisius has never won in Rider’s Alumni Gym (0-10). Rider has won the last eight meetings with Canisius. The last time Canisius beat Rider was in the 2003 regular season finale, 84-74 in Buffalo.
Rider travels to first-place Loyola Wednesday, and following the Bracketbuster home game with Murray State Saturday night, end the regular season with games at Canisius and Niagara. “We have a big stretch of games on the road coming up,” Thompson said. “It was good to build some confidence before we start to travel.” Rider is now 8-4 at home and has won 105 of its last 141 games in Alumni Gym (.745).
“We need to be playing our best basketball at this time,” Johnson said, “and I think we are peaking at the right time.”
Crunch Time.
-RU-
