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Rider 76, TCU 61
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Back in Massachusetts, Rider put to bed any notion that the Broncs are a first-half team.
Playing a TCU team that had won its first two games by 20 or more points apiece, Rider overcame a six-point halftime deficit Saturday afternoon for a thoroughly impressive win, its third in four games to open the season.
Unlike the Broncs' first trip to the Bay State, when they blew a 21-point halftime lead and lost to UMass, Rider turned it on in the second half, quickly turning a back-and-forth struggle into a blowout.
The Broncs used a 32-12 run to build a double-digit lead and coasted from there, getting contributions from nearly everyone.
Justin Robinson, enjoying the best four-game stretch of his career, scored 18 points. Novar Gadson, starting to work within the flow of the offense and drastically improving his shot selection, had 15 -- just the beginning of the list of players who made an impact.
Every Bronc played and all but two -- freshman guard Tommy Pereira and sophomore center Dera Nd-Ezuma -- scored.
Read the full story here.
Playing a TCU team that had won its first two games by 20 or more points apiece, Rider overcame a six-point halftime deficit Saturday afternoon for a thoroughly impressive win, its third in four games to open the season.
Unlike the Broncs' first trip to the Bay State, when they blew a 21-point halftime lead and lost to UMass, Rider turned it on in the second half, quickly turning a back-and-forth struggle into a blowout.
The Broncs used a 32-12 run to build a double-digit lead and coasted from there, getting contributions from nearly everyone.
Justin Robinson, enjoying the best four-game stretch of his career, scored 18 points. Novar Gadson, starting to work within the flow of the offense and drastically improving his shot selection, had 15 -- just the beginning of the list of players who made an impact.
Every Bronc played and all but two -- freshman guard Tommy Pereira and sophomore center Dera Nd-Ezuma -- scored.
Read the full story here.
posted by Ben Doody at
4:18 PM
9 Comments:
As I have said all along, this is going to be a special season. When all is said and done, we will be mentioned with George Mason and Butler as one of the greatest mid-major seasons ever.
On a side note, why did the MAAC turn to shit this year? Manhattan lost to freaking LIU today??
Doody,
care to revisit the "Fairfield is better without AJ and Evano" comment? I know it's early but they have been awful, nevermind better than last year.
Shooter,
I'm glad people like you care about what I have to say in preseason posts. I really am. But this is turning into an unhealthy obsession.
First, your comment makes it seem like I've said that BECAUSE Johnson and Evanovich are gone, Fairfield will be better.
Not only have I never said that, I've never said that Fairfield being better was a slam dunk or that they were an easy pick to win the MAAC.
What I've written is similar to what countless others have written: The returning talent plus the infusion of three all-league-level players (Edney, Nero, Hawkins) is a good recipe for an even better year.
This isn't baseball. Success depends on how an exact group of players blends together, and it's impossible to know precisely how things will mesh.
Fairfield has enough talent to be better if things click properly. That was true in April and it's still true now.
This has been a rough start for Fairfield, but it's November. It's certainly possible that they'll finish sixth in the MAAC and be a complete bust. But it's also possible that they'll pull it together and have a good year.
In the meantime, here's a piece of advice: Take all the time and energy you're spending on this Fairfield basketball obsession and find something more productive to do with it.
Whether Fairfield goes to the Sweet 16 or goes down as the biggest bust of all time, isn't there at least something else in your life that warrants more attention?
I don't like to focus on pre-season predictions, because I pretty much think the media is dead in this country but I thought the crowing of Fairfield before the season started was a bit irresposnible. As a great NFL coach said, "If you want to crown their asses, crown them, but Fairfield is who we thought they were.
1) To take out a guy who was putting up 20 and 20s some nights and pretend like "No Big Deal" because Nero is back is rididculous. Was it a big deal when Shaq left the Lakers? That kid played like Shaq a lot of nights last year.
2) When you take a guy like Evano off Fairfield, you took their zone breaker. Who hits perimeter shots for that team now? Even when Evano was shooting, you were scared of him. Needham is a break you down guard, not a shooter. So now he drives into a 2-3 zone. Not easy. Plus, your asking a true sophomore to take you to the promised land. Again, a lot of pressure on a sophomore.
3) Coaching. In my opinion, Cooley is a guy who gets the most out of a team when things are bad. Injuries, Han defects, etc. He gives you a hug, circles the wagons, and squeezes out wins. Now he has a big bullseye on his chest. This is not Fran Mccaffery.
The problem with doody is that he's a basketball fan with a media pass. His effort covering this is not awful, but his lack of basketball knowledge really does a disservice to the teams he covers and its fans.
no Loyola marymount preview article with two hours to post time....nice work doody.
Shooter/Anon,
If I'm a "fan with a media pass" I'm not sure why you even read the blog, let alone care about my preseason picks.
goBroncs, didn't have time yesterday for a Loyola post. Wish I had.
#1 Rider Fan, did anyone say losing Johnson was "no big deal"?
From everything I read all pre-season, people crowned Fairfield the same way the Siena teams had been crowned the last few years. I hope we can agree this is not Hasbrouck, Ubiles, Moore, Franklin, and Rositter. Fairfield has holes.
The Johnson loss is always folled by, "but they have Edney, Hawkins, and Nero." Lets not minimize what that kid did last year. 20 20s don't get put up every night.
#1 Rider Fan,
Thank you for attempting to talk basketball instead of resorting to over-the-top nonsense like "you have no basketball knowledge and are doing a disservice to the sport."
If you look at my preseason rankings post, the capsule on Fairfield says exactly that: By no means is this team close to the prohibitive favorite Siena was.
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