LAWRENCEVILLE – As far as Tommy Dempsey is concerned, Rider is playing with house money this weekend at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

There isn’t much pressure on his fifth-seeded Broncs to challenge for the title and the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

“The last several years we’ve gone (to the conference tourney) and there has been pressure because we really went up there with the expectation that we were going to win,” Dempsey said. “It’s not that we don’t expect to win, it’s more that nobody else expects us to win.”

That might just suit this team best.

Despite a 13-18 overall record, Rider has won two straight — one coming against Saturday’s quarterfinal opponent Fairfield — and is playing its best basketball of the season.

“We’re probably a little bit better right now that we’ve been most of the year,” Dempsey said. “I think it’s a good position for us to be in.”
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Through all Rider’s ups and downs this season, Brandon Penn remained consistent.

The senior forward was rewarded Monday with a spot on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s Second Team, the league announced on a conference call.

“Brandon has really stepped up for us this year and I am happy the coaches in the league recognized him,” said Broncs coach Tommy Dempsey in a statement. “I was disappointed some of our other guys did not make an All-MAAC team but at this point we are just focused on team goals.”
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LAWRENCEVILLE — The Rider men’s basketball team suffered a blow this week when sophomore guard Anthony Myles was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken left wrist.

Myles sustained the injury Saturday in the BracketBusters loss to Albany.

The injury comes at a bad time for the Dover, Del., native, who was playing his best basketball of the season. He scored a career-high 21 points in the loss to Iona and had eight in 10 minutes against Albany before the injury.
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LAWRENCEVILLE — Brandon Penn didn’t need to be reminded about how many of his eight 3-point attempts found the nylon in the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds on Sunday afternoon.

“None,” he said.

But how many in the final second?

One.

That one — with 0.8 seconds remaining — was the game-winner in a wild contest in which Rider erased a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat Niagara, 74-73, at Alumni Gymnasium.

Antoine Mason gave the Purple Eagles a two-point lead when he drove to the basket and banked in a mid-range jumper with 6.6 seconds left.

Rider coach Tommy Dempsey elected not to call timeout and Jon Thompson raced up the floor and found an open Penn a few steps behind the 3-point line.
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JERSEY CITY – For the first time this season, the Rider men’s basketball team is on a winning streak.

The Broncs won their third in a row, all three in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, 72-58, Sunday afternoon over St. Peter’s at the Yanitelli Center.

Rider has now won five of its last six, improving to 6-11 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Brandon Penn continued his impressive play with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Anthony Myles and Jeff Jones combined for 30 points off the bench to spark the Bronc attack in the second half.

“It’s never easy up here,” said coach Tommy Dempsey. “You always have to grind it out against them. When the game got tight, we had great composure.”
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LAWRENCEVILLE — The last time the Rider men’s basketball team faced Marist it was left with a sour taste in its mouth.

Friday night was payback for that 20-point loss back in early December.

Brandon Penn had 24 points and Novar Gadson 19 as the Broncs ran rampant in a 99-86 victory over the Red Foxes that wasn’t as close the final score indicated.

“We couldn’t let them come here and sweep us,” Penn said. “We had to try and get them back.”



Get them back they did.

Rider led by as many as 28 during a 14-7 opening to the second half sparked by a trio of Penn 3-pointers. The Broncs held a 59-33 with advantage after Penn’s sixth 3-pointer of the night fell through the hoop with just over 16 minutes remaining.
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LAWRENCEVILLE – Brandon Penn swears he never looked at the scoreboard during last week’s win over Monmouth to see how close he was to reaching a career high in points.

“I always look at the scoreboard but only to see how close the game is,” Penn quipped through a smile after the Rider men’s basketball team finished practice Wednesday afternoon.

Penn matched a career high in points with 26 and set a career best in field goals made (eight) and rebounds (15) in the Broncs’ 74-62 win over their in-state rival.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rewarded him with Player of the Week honors.

“I didn’t know I was (Player of the Week) until one of my brothers told me,” Penn said. “I thought I could have got it a few times before but it’s nice to be recognized and finally get something like that.”

Coach Tommy Dempsey told Penn before the season started that he thought this could be the senior’s breakout year.

Penn has always been second fiddle to Justin Robinson, Mike Ringgold and Novar Gadson. But with Robinson and Ringgold graduating and Gadson struggling with injuries the Broncs need somebody to step up.

Penn provided that lift against Monmouth.

“He’s playing with confidence,” Dempsey said. “He’s one of those guys we’ve really grown to rely on.”

Now it’s up to him to continue to play with that confidence. Penn might not get 26 and 15 every night – he’s averaging 11 points and four rebounds per game –  but Dempsey thinks he can be a difference maker the second half of the season.

“I know that he can make shots,” Dempsey said. “If he continues to rebound the ball like he did the other night and continues to be a leader that is probably more important to me. He’s always been a high percentage shooter and it’s more the rebounds and the leadership I’ve grown to appreciate through these last few weeks.”

Rider (3-10) has won two in a row and begun to show signs of life after starting the season 1-10. Its defense, which was allowing 82 points per game, has given up less than 80 in the last three games.

The Broncs, who had three days off for Christmas, travel to 4-6 Stony Brook Friday night before starting the New Year Jan. 2 at Manhattan.

Penn said they’re feeling like a team refreshed.

“We feel good,” he said. “We’ve had some good practices and we feel like we’re getting off to a new start.”

And his New Year’s resolution.

“Hopefully,” he said, “that is getting more wins.”

WEST LONG BRANCH — Even in the midst of the tough start to this season, the Rider men’s basketball team has been able to count on Brandon Penn.

The senior matched a career-high 26 points Thursday night as the Broncs won their second straight and fifth consecutive over in-state rival Monmouth with a 74-62 victory at the Multipurpose Activities Center.

“It’s great to see Brandon be rewarded with the way he’s been playing,” said coach Tommy Dempsey. “He’s been a really underrated player in our program, and he’s kind of been in the shadows of some other really good players. I think he’s really stepped up through this struggle.”



Everybody saw Penn Thursday night. His 26 points — he hit the 26-point mark Dec. 2 of last year at Manhattan — came on a career-best eight made field goals (8 for 16), six of which came from behind the arc.

He also set a career high in rebounds with 15.

“There wasn’t really a different feeling about the game,” Penn said. “I just came in like it was any other game. I just made more shots.”

The Broncs (3-10) didn’t wilt when Monmouth scored five straight points to cut the deficit to 64-60 with 3:43 left, instead, coming right back within seconds to increase the lead back to six after Eddie Mitchell and Danny Stewart connected on an alley-oop.

“We’ve been having trouble closing games out,” Penn said. “Since we were up, we didn’t want to be complacent and slow it down, so we just kept pushing it.”

The defense took care of the rest.

After getting within 64-60, the Hawks (2-10) made only one field goal the rest of the way. 

“I feel good about us right now,” Penn said. “We’re starting to get a good rhythm and hopefully we can keep it going after the break.”

Rider even came back on the boards, out-rebounding Monmouth for the game, 38-34, making it the first time all year that it has grabbed more boards than the opponent.

In the first half, it was the Hawks’ offensive rebounding that allowed them to stay in the game. They grabbed 11 boards on the offensive glass that led to 10 second-chance points.

The Broncs led 31-25 at intermission despite going 7:01 without scoring in the first half.

Penn hit a trio of 3-pointers with his first one giving Rider a 7-2 lead and forcing Monmouth into an early timeout. But the Hawks responded with eight straight points over the next 7:01 to take a 10-7 lead until Danny Stewart finally broke the scoring drought with a layup.

Stewart was the only other Rider player in double figures with 17 points.

Ed Waite had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Monmouth.

Hawks coach King Rice wasn’t happy with his team’s performance.

“Our players weren’t here tonight,” Rice said. “They had already gone on break. That’s what happens — finals come, kids want to go home, they leave before they’re supposed to and you get beat.”

Penn didn’t take an early vacation.

“He was here. He wanted to play before he went home,” Rice said. “They’re 3-10, we’re 2-10 and when your record looks like this, you either say, ‘I’m going to be a man and fight,’ or, ‘I’m going to run like a little boy.’ And tonight, he was a man and he fought, and we ran like little boys.”