March 2, 2007 - #7 Rider 77 #10 Iona 62 - MAAC Opening Round
March 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men’s College Basketball
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference First Round
Rider University 77, Iona College 62
BRIDGEPORT, CT--Junior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) compiled 24 points and 16 rebounds to lead Rider to victory over Iona in the first round of 2007 Bank of America Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship tournament Friday night. “We did enough to win,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. “We didn’t have our ‘A’ game, but we had enough.”
Rider will now play the second seed, Niagara, at 7:30 Saturday night in the quarter-finals. “We’ll need to play better tomorrow night,” Dempsey said.
Holding a 59-49 lead with 9:56 left to play, Rider (16-14) went on an 11-0 run, seven points by sophomore Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA), to take a 70-49 lead with 7:50 left to play. Mansell finished with 18 points despite playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble. “I think when Iona beat us this year we took them lightly,” Mansell said. “Tonight we knew it was win or go home, so we had to get this win.”
Iona was the last Division I team to gain a win this year, going 0-22 before beating Rider on February 3.
Holding a 22-15 lead, Rider went on a 9-2 run, five points by Mansell, to take a 31-17 lead and Rider led 42-29 at half time. Rider led 44-29 before Iona went on an 8-0 run to cut the lad to 44-37 with 17:09 left to play. “I was a little disappointed with the start of the second half,” Dempsey said. “Iona didn’t quit, so give them credit.”
Trailing 5-2, Rider out-scored Iona 11-2, five points by sophomore Lamar Johnson (Scranton, PA/Scranton), to take a 13-7 lead five minutes into the game. Johnson finished with five points.
Freshman Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) added 13 points, while senior Terrance Mouton (Lafayette, LA/Acadiana) added eight points, six assists and five rebounds. The game was Mouton’s 118 of his career, tying the Rider record set in 1984 by Fred Lee and tied by Deon Hames in 1996.
For Thompson, it was his 17th ‘double-double’ of the season and the 30th of his career. “I was glad to be able to contribute tonight,” Thompson said, “but I know I could have done better.”
Rider and Niagara faced each other in the 2005 MAAC Title Game. “’Niagara is a good offensive team,” Thompson said, “but we know we can hang with them. The key will be getting some stops.”
-RU-
