Dec. 9, 2009
Box Score
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - When college basketball pundits talk about hostile arenas and difficult places to play, rarely does Rider's Alumni Gymnasium enter into the conversation. That discussion should start including the raucous gym soon. La Salle found out just how loud the Broncs' Zoo could get and secured a 69-60 victory in front of a sold-out crowd on Wednesday night, snapping Rider's nine-game winning streak at Alumni Gymnasium and becoming just the second non-conference team to win in the building in the past three years.
Rider (6-4) was 26-4 coming into the game at Alumni Gymnasium over the past 30 contests. Its last loss in the building was on January 30, 2009 to Loyola (MD) and the last non-conference team to win in Alumni Gymnasium was Drexel on December 27, 2008.
The nine-point margin of victory does not tell how close the game was down the stretch. With 1:56 on the clock, the Explorers, who led for all but one minute of the game, held onto a slim 62-60 advantage, with the momentum clearly on the Broncs' side.
But the visitors clamped down defensively and junior Terrell Williams came up with a pair of important rebounds to keep Rider scoreless the rest of the way. And La Salle, which has seen its share of struggles from the charity stripe, connected on 7-for-8 down the stretch to account for the final score.
Senior Rodney Green played perhaps his best game of the season, scoring 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting. He grabbed seven rebounds and dished six assists (with just three turnovers) and controlled play for the visitors.
He had a pair of highlight reel plays early in the second half. He fed freshman Aaric Murray for an alley-oop dunk that extended the lead to 42-29 with 17:00 to play and a minute later, stole an inbounds pass at half-court and finished with a one-handed jam to quiet the crowd.
"We were fortunate tonight," said La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini. "Rider has some good wins this year, they are a veteran group of players and they rarely lose at home. Rider played with great effort and we couldn't keep them off the boards in the second half."
Muray was solid once again, quietly scoring 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbing eight boards. He was a menace in the paint as well, tying a career-high with five blocks and altering several more.
Senior Kimmani Barrett added 11 points and now needs 36 to join the 1,000 point club. Classmate Yves Mekongo added eight points and a season-best 10 rebounds. His two free throws with a 62-60 lead with under two minutes to play began the 7-0 game-ending run for the Explorers.
La Salle (6-2) led by as many as 16 points just before halftime, but the Broncs slowly chipped away in the second half. The advantage was single digits for the final 11 minutes and the last five minutes were nail-bitingly close for the Explorer faithful.
Ryan Thompson led Rider with 16 points, while Novar Gadson (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Mike Ringgold (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
The Explorers hit the road on Saturday for a nationally-televised ESPN match-up with #1 Kansas. Tip-off is set for 2 PM.
A "Watch Party" will be held at Tom Gola Arena, with doors opening at 1:30 PM. Admission is free and the first 50 fans will receive free burritos courtesy of Chipotle. Philly soft pretzels and soda will also be available at no charge.
