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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When Rider beat Fairfield Sunday, there was a glaring omission to the Stags’ roster.

Fairfield played without starting point guard Derek Needham, who injured his foot in its loss to Iona. Turns out, Needham broke a bone in his left foot and will miss the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

“We’re going to miss Derek because he’s a guy that helps us do what we want to do in terms of our gameplan,” said Stags coach Sydney Johnson. “Obviously, the timing isn’t what he would like. But he’s trying to stay positive and he will. He’s trying to be there for his teammates.
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LAWRENCEVILLE — At times this season, Tommy Dempsey and Novar Gadson have found themselves at odds.

But if Sunday afternoon was any indication, they might be finding harmony at just the right time.

Gadson finished with 19 points, including Rider’s final eight, complete with a spinning layup with 28.2 seconds remaining to help his team secure a 65-62 victory over Fairfield at Alumni Gymnasium on Senior Day.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Gadson, who has struggled at times to regain the form that saw him grab second- team All-League honors after having microfracture surgery on his left knee in the offseason.

“I’ve overcome adversity in my life before,” Gadson said, “and I feel like I can do it again.”
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LAWRENCEVILLE — In the midst of arguably his toughest year as a head coach, Tommy Dempsey is trying to rally the Rider men’s basketball team for one final push.

The Broncs, who have lost four straight, face a crucial Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Friday night against Loyola (7 p.m., ESPN2).

With a win, they can finish no worse than sixth.

Rider is in fifth place with two regular-season games remaining but face the two teams tied for second in those contests. Both Siena and Niagara are one game behind the Broncs. The Saints played Thursday night.

The goal is avoiding next Friday’s play-in game at the conference tournament.
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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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When Tommy Dempsey looked at the Rider men’s basketball team’s schedule and saw a 1-10 record and eight of the next nine games on the road he was ready to burst into tears.

Four games into this crucial stretch, the Broncs have gone 3-1 and are coming off their best performance of the season, beating Manhattan 88-77 for their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win.

“All you can do is keep pressing forward,” Dempsey said during Tuesday’s league conference call. “Just because we played well (Monday) night doesn’t mean we’re a great team by any stretch, but I do think we’re improving.”

Rider, already behind the eight-ball following a pair of conference losses in December, avoided a season sweep against the Jaspers, who had won 71-55 in Lawrenceville on Dec. 2.

Dempsey was asked if he felt his team’s improvement was the result of players metaphorically having their backs against the wall.

“I don't think it's as simple as that,” was his answer.

Instead, he credited the character of his players for not pointing fingers when the team was off to its worst start in 68 years.

“When you go through a stretch like we have things can get really ugly if you don’t have the right people in your locker room,” Dempsey said. “One of things that has helped us before is that we’ve won before. Guys realize we’ve won before and we can win again. It’s just a matter of doing a couple of things better and more consistently.”

The Broncs were rewarded against Manhattan.

“We’ve hung together,” said Dempsey, whose team shot 58 percent from the floor and 54 percent from behind the arc in the win over the Jaspers. “(Monday) night was our best performance to date and it had been coming. I think we were due one of those. We went up there and had a very good performance.”

Rider gets its lone home game in this nine-game run Friday night against Marist. The Red Foxes are coming off a win over Saint Peter’s and are 7-7 overall and 2-1 in the MAAC.

They already hold a 95-75 victory over the Broncs.

“Winning makes you feel good,” said Marist coach Chuck Martin, whose team has already surpassed its six wins from a season ago. “Our kids are feeling really good about where we’re at. We’re taking baby steps but we’re starting to get there slowly-but-surely.”

Martin said he expects a different Rider team than the one that got blown out in Poughkeepsie in early December.

“They’re playing much better basketball,” Martin said. “You can tell on tape that they are a much more confident group. It was just a matter of time. Tommy’s a good coach, he’s been in this league for a long time and you knew at some point he would get his guys going.”

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.”

AP Photo

 

 

 

--Caught up with Tommy Dempsey at practice Tuesday to chat about reaching the 100-win mark and if he ever thought he'd get there considering the way the team has struggled this year.

LAWRENCEVILLE — Tommy Dempsey will go down in Rider men’s basketball history as the fastest coach to 100 victories.
It still took a little longer than expected.
Dempsey entered this season, his sixth as head coach in Lawrenceville, needing two wins to reach the century mark.
Off to a 1-10 start and on the heels of a six-game losing streak, Dempsey admitted he felt like it might not ever come. But the Broncs held off Maryland-Baltimore County, 73-66, Saturday night in overtime for the milestone victory.
“Any time you reach a milestone, it’s a good feeling,” Dempsey said Tuesday after practice as he prepares to embark on another 100 when his team faces Monmouth Thursday night. “It was just soured by how long it took. But at the same time, it’s a reminder that we won before, and hey, we’ll win again.”
Dempsey needed 176 games to reach 100 wins, passing Kevin Bannon as the quickest to reach the century mark. Bannon, who spent eight years in charge at Rider and is the last coach to guide the Broncs to the NCAA Tournament, did it in 179 games.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while,” said senior forward Brandon Penn. “It just took a long time to get it. I’m glad we finally got it.”
Dempsey said it slipped his mind how close he was to 100 because of the way the team has struggled.
“I didn’t think too much about it because you only need two wins and you don’t think you’re going to have to wait until December,” he said. “I didn’t really give it a lot of thought and kind of forgot about it because it took so long.”
If anything, for Dempsey, the milestone serves as a reminder of the success the program has had over the last five years.
During those first five seasons, the Broncs’ 98 wins were more than any other school in the New York Metropolitan area. Hofstra (95), Long Island (82), St. John’s (81) and Seton Hall (79) all come in behind them. Only Siena (110) had more wins in the MAAC over that period.
“We’re in a little bit of a tough stretch,” Dempsey said. “It does serve as a little bit of a reminder that we’re going to get this right.”
Rider is the midst of playing eight of its next nine games away from Alumni Gymnasium.
While the games are on the road, the schedule does lighten up. Monmouth and Stony Brook — the next two opponents — are a combined 5-15.
“Right now, it’s not about a win-loss number,” Dempsey said. “It’s about performance-by-performance and what can we take out of each game and build on.
“I know that winning is important, but our overall record isn’t going to change overnight. It has to be about, ‘Are we getting better?’ And I feel like we are getting better over the last few weeks. Now you hope that it will translate into wins as you get better.”
Gadson hurting
Dempsey said senior forward Novar Gadson is being hampered by sore knees. Gadson had microfracture surgery in the offseason and said he felt “100 percent” prior to the season opener
Dempsey played him regular minutes but quickly realized he was having a hard time getting up and down the court.
“It’s a wear and tear thing,” Dempsey said. “He’s just having a hard time with his range of motion.”
Gadson didn’t play against Princeton but did see 14 minutes off the bench in the win over UMBC.
Myles picks up knock
Anthony Myles injured his left wrist and sat out practice Tuesday. Dempsey said it’s a minor injury and Myles, who is left handed, will practice Wednesday and play Thursday against Monmouth.
Medley to redshirt
Dempsey said freshman guard Mark Medley will seek a medical redshirt. Medley broke his left wrist in the offseason and re-aggravated the injury during practice.
Medley, from Wilmington, Del., played seven minutes in the season-opener at Robert Morris but hasn’t appeared since and isn’t dressing for games.
He is practicing with the team.