Justin Robinson led four players in double-figures with 21 points as the Rider Broncs knocked off the Saint Joseph’s Hawks 81-73 at the Alumni Gymnasium on the campus of Rider University.
This loss was particularly disturbing for the Hawks because some early season trends continued for them in this game. The Hawks were dominated in the paint, allowing 17 offensive rebounds in the contest and getting out-rebounded by a 44-32 margin in the game.
It was a game of runs, with the Hawks going on two double-digit runs during the course of the game, including a 13-0 run which gave them a 30-25 lead with 7 minutes left in the first half. During this run the Hawks saw freshman Justin Crosgile make his debut and Hawk fans had to be happy with what they saw as he had 6 points along with a steal during the large Hawks run.
The Hawks had some turnover problems right before halftime, in which the Broncs were able to go on an 8-0 run to take a 43-40 lead into the locker room. The Hawks were led by Darrin Govens with 10 points in the first half while Todd O’Brien added 8 points on 4-4 shooting along with 6 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Rider had three players in double-figures in the first half, with Robinson scoring 14 points and Mike Ringgold and Jhamar Youngblood, who was in the Broncs starting lineup for the first time this season in place of Brandon Penn, adding 10 points.
With the Hawks up by a point early in the second half, Rider went on a 7-0 run after some poor shot selection from the Hawks combining with two turnovers.
It would be the Hawks going on the game’s next run after a Phil Martelli time out, with Crosgile hitting a three to cut the lead to three. A couple of possessions later, Crosgile threw an unbelievable alley-oop pass to Garrett Williamson who threw down the dunk and put the Hawks up by a point. The Hawks would eventually extend this to a 12-0 run, as Idris Hilliard converted on a three-point play and then hit a foul line jumper to put the Hawks up 60-54.
The game of runs would continue though with the next Rider run being the decisive run of the game. The Broncs outscored the Hawks 14-1 over the next five minutes and took a 68-61 lead with under four minutes to play.
The Hawks would get no closer than 4 points the rest of the way and in the end fell to the Broncs for the first time in 30 years. However, before last season the two teams had not met since the 1981-82 season. The teams have met a total of 20 times, with the Hawks winning 17 of those match-ups.
The Hawks were led by Hilliard who scored 13 points while also adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Crosgile had 12 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals in his college debut while Williamson added 11 and Govens and Bryant Irwin finishing the game with 10 points.
Besides having Robinson score 21, the Broncs also had double-digit scoring performances from Youngblood and Ringgold who each added 16, while Ryan Thompson, younger brother of Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson, poured in 11 points along with 7 rebounds.
The Hawks once again will have a six day lay-off between games, with their next action taking place on the road against Ivy-league favorite Cornell on Sunday at 2 PM in Ithaca, NY.
Comments