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Men’s College Basketball
Rider University 76, Marist College 65

LAWRENCEVILLE--Sophomore Mike Ringgold (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) scored 17 points and senior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) added 15 points to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Marist Sunday afternoon. “This was a good, hard-fought MAAC win,” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey, “against a very scrappy team.”

The victory was Rider’s fifth in the last eight games, while Marist has now lost six of its last nine games. Rider has now won 16 of its last 21 MAAC regular season games.

With Rider (8-5, 3-0 MAAC) holding a 68-60 lead, Ringgold went coast-to-coast and dunked to give Rider a 70-60 lead. “I guess they thought I was going to hand the ball off in the back court, since that is what I normally do,” Ringgold said, “but I saw the opportunity and took my driving lane.”

Rider out-scored Marist (6-10, 2-2 MAAC) 6-2 over the final 1:49, as Mansell and sophomore Justin Robinson (London, England/Blair Academy) each made a pair of foul shots. “We did a good job closing the game,” Dempsey said, “when it was ‘winning’ time.”

Robinson finished with 12 points and three assists. In Robinson’s last two games he started and compiled a career-high 20 points against Drexel and a career-high eight assists against Iona. He also tied his career high with six rebounds at Iona.

“Give Rider credit,” said Marist head coach Chuck Martin. “They jumped on us early and did a really good job.”

Rider scored the first eight points of the game and led 18-5 8:30 into the game. “We came out with great energy in the first half,” Dempsey said. “We executed at both ends of the court. We only had one turnover and really guarded them so it was one of our best halves this year.”

Holding a 23-15 lead, Rider out-scored Marist 13-1, four points each by Robinson and freshman Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram), to take a 36-16 lead, and Rider led 41-23 at the half. Rider never trailed in the game. Gadson finished with eight points.

Rider junior Ryan Thompson (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) was held to 11 points but added four assists and five rebounds. Thompson leads the MAAC in scoring (17.3) and minutes played (37.5) and ranks fourth in steals, fifth in field goal percentage, seventh in rebounds and 11^th in assists.

For Marist, senior forward Ryan Schneider compiled a game-high 25 points, making eight of nine foul shots, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Trailing 49-30, Marist out-scored Rider 11-2, four points by Schneider, to get within 10 at 51-41, and a three-pointer by Schneider cut the lead to 59-51 with 7:41 remaining. “Marist played very well in the second half,” Dempsey said.

“In the first half we stunk,” Coach Martin said, “and in the second half we came out and played.”

Ringgold, not known for his foul shooting, made a career-high five of seven foul shots. “It is just a matter of practicing,” Ringgold said of his foul shooting. “It’s just a confidence thing,” Dempsey said. “He made his first one and that allowed him to make the four in a row.”

Mansell has compiled 31 points in his last two games after missing three games with an elbow injury. “I wanted to just focus on making shots when I came back,” said Mansell, who now has 1,094 career points, 25^th most ever at Rider.

These two teams have now met 39 times since the series began in 1980-81 with Rider winning 18, including the last three and nine of the last 15. Since joining the MAAC, Rider now leads the series 13-12. Marist won by one point in Alumni Gym the last two seasons.

Rider is now 5-1 in Alumni Gymnasium this season and has won 16 of the last 19 in the Broncs’ Zoo.

In a pregame ceremony Rider retired the #1 uniform of Jason Thompson ’08, who is now a member of the Sacramento Kings. “It was a great atmosphere in the gym today,” Ryan Thompson said, “and it was nice to have Jason here. It is always nice when a sibling is being honored. I’m happy for him,” said Thompson, who now has 955 career points.

The Broncs travel to Albany for a women’s-men’s doubleheader at Siena Friday, January 9. Both games will be played on ESPNU TV. The men’s game is a re-match of the 2008 MAAC Title Game. “Just another MAAC game that we need to prepare well for,” Thompson said. “It should be a fun game,” Mansell said.

“As the season has gone along we’ve gotten better on the defensive end,” Ringgold said, “and if we play defense we’ll be a contender in this league.”

“You defend to contend,” Dempsey added. “Siena has become a rival of ours the last couple of years, so we’ll be ready to go.”

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