February 25, 2007 - Niagara 89 Rider 77
February 25, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Niagara University 89, Rider University 77
Broncs Finish Seventh
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY—Despite 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots by junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape), the Broncs ended the regular season with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference loss at Niagara Sunday afternoon. “Niagara is a very talented team, a very good basketball team, and to beat them you have to play very well,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We had too many guys who just didn’t have a good game.”
In other MAAC action Sunday, Fairfield University defeated Saint Peter’s College 63-60 to finish sixth, and Rider finished seventh and will play on Friday at 10:00 pm against the 10th place Iona Gaels.
The official pairings for the MAAC tournament, held at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT March 2-5, will be announced by the MAAC offices on Monday.
Holding a 52-50 lead, Niagara (19-11, 13-5 MAAC) went on a 13-4 run, seven points by senior guard Lorenzo Miles, to take a 65-54 lead with 7:21 left to play. Miles finished with 19 points in his final home game.
Trailing 34-31, Niagara out-scored Rider 11-4 over the final 4:26 of the first half, six points by Charron Fisher, to take a 42-38 lead at halftime. That was the seventh and final lead change of the game. Fisher finished with 24 points and nine rebounds.
Niagara out-rebounded Rider 41-29. “Every Niagara team we’ve ever played has been a handful on the backboard, and they were no different today,” Dempsey said.
Thompson scored Rider’s first four points of the game, and Rider’s first four points of the second half. “I was very happy with the way Jason played,” Dempsey said. “He played hard and they had no answer for him other than to really pack it in, and we didn’t do a good enough job opening things up for him with our jumpers today.”
The Broncs made just four of 15 three-point field goals, including one of 10 in the second half. “We really struggled from three,” Dempsey said. “They had a hard time guarding Jason so they started to pack it in defensively in the paint. We needed to make them pay with some threes and we didn’t knock them down today.”
Thompson now has 1,300 career points, 14th highest ever at Rider, and has 734 rebounds, sixth highest ever at Rider. Thompson entered the game 10th in the nation in rebounds (9.9), 29th in scoring (19.7) and 30th in blocks (2.2). “Jason was pretty good today,” Dempsey said.
The Broncs made just 17 of 26 foul shots (65%). Rider entered the game 39th in the nation in free throw percentage (.727).
Senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) had 16 points, making eight of 10 foul shots. The game was the 117th of Mouton’s career. The Rider record for games played is 118, set by Fred Lee in 1984 and tied by Deon Hames in 1996. Mouton now has 1,116 career points, 22nd highest ever at Rider.
Sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA) added 17 points and five assists.
With the victory, Niagara clinches second place. “There’s not a huge gap between them and us,” Dempsey said. “They’re a little bit better than us right now, a little bit older, a little more physical.”
Rider finished the regular season 15-14 overall, 9-9 in the MAAC. “Our goal was not to go 15-14 this year,” Dempsey said, “but at the same time, we’re getting better. We’re certainly a lot better this year than we were last year (8-20), and hopefully we’ll be a lot better next year.”
-RU-
