November 10, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Men’s College Basketball

MURRAY, KY—The Broncs lost on a last second foul shot to Murray State in the 2007-08 season opener Friday night in the Regional Special Events Center on the Murray State campus. \”Murray State is very good and they didn’t make anything easy for us,\” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. \”We hung and we hung and gave ourselves a chance to win it. We didn’t play poorly.\”

Junior guard Kevin Thomas made one of two foul shots with 0.2 seconds left to give Murray State (1-0) the victory. Thomas finished with 14 points.

\”I was disappointed in that the game deserved overtime, but it isn’t the right thing to comment on that call at the end,\” said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. \”We did every thing we could do to put it into overtime. Our kids fought like crazy.\”

Junior Harris Mansell (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) scored a career-high 21 points for Rider (0-1). Trailing 65-63, Mansell went to the foul line with 3.5 seconds left and made both free throws to tie the score at 65-65.

\”We obviously didn’t have our ‘A’ game but we didn’t go away,\” Dempsey said. \”We found a way to get that thing tied, and I think if it had gone overtime we could have found a way to win it. We had all the momentum going.\”

As expected, the Broncs were led by Thompson. Surprisingly, it was not preseason All-American and preseason MAAC Player of the Year Jason Thompson, but his little brother Ryan. Sophomore Ryan Thompson ((Mt. Laurel/Lenape) scored a career-high 23 points, after scoring 12 of Rider’s first 19 points of the game, and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Broncs.

Rider senior Jason Thompson (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) was held to 13 points and six rebounds.

Trailing 55-47, Rider got two free throws from Ryan Thompson and two three-pointers by Mansell to tie the score at 57-57 with three minutes left. Mansell made a three-point field goal with 3:00 remaining to tie the score at 57-57, and made another three to tie the score at 60 with 2:00 left. Mansell led the MAAC in three-point field goals last season.

\”Murray State was very good defensively and weren’t giving Harris any open looks,\” Dempsey said. \”I told Harris when you are one of the top 3-point shooters in the country you aren’t going to get many good looks. He took some tough contested threes and was able to knock them down. He played really clutch.\”

Junior Lamar Johnson’s (Scranton, PA/Scranton) only basket of the game, a three-pointer, cut the lead to 64-63 with 22 seconds left.

\”We grinded it out with a good team and had a chance to win,\” Dempsey said. \”I knew this games was one of the tougher games on our schedule and it has bothered me for months.\”

Murray State jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first 11 minutes, seven points by Tony Easley, as Rider made just three of its first 10 shots from the field. Easley finished with 11 points.

Holding a 30-28 lead, the Racers out-scored Rider 9-2 to take a 39-30 lead with 15 minutes left to play.

The Racers have now won their last 18 home openers and are 10-0 in RSEC season openers. Danero Thomas led the Racers with 15 points.

The Broncs lost the 2006-07 opener at NJIT, and both the 2004-05 and 20005-06 openers to Bucknell. Rider won the 2003 season opener over Brown and the 2002 opener against Monmouth.

Murray State competes in the Ohio Valley Conference, and like Rider, is picked to finish fourth this season. Austin Peay is the preseason OVC favorite and defending OVC champion.

With an enrollment of 10,350, Murray State plays in the ten-year old Regional Special Events Center (8,600), where they average close to 4,000 fans per game.

Murray State and Rider met for the first time last season as part of the O\’Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster series.

The Racers have won 20 OVC Championships, including 13 of the last 20, and their streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons is the fifth best active mark in Division I.

Murray State has been to the NCAA tournament 13 times, including five times in the last 10 years. Murray State finished in fourth place last year.

The Broncs host the University of Delaware on Saturday, November 17 in the home opener. \”Now we get a chance to come home and hopefully we’ll have a great crowd,\” Dempsey said. \”We’ll be ready to play.\”

-RU-

GISELDA & VINCENT LOBASCIO

Giselda T. (DiClaudio) and Vincent L. Lobascio of Audubon celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Oct. 18.

They have four children: Vincent Jr. of Minneapolis; Jean Murphy of Audubon; Lorraine Bloemker of Washington Township; and the late Louis.

They have three grandchildren.

 

By Bruce Darrow

Is there a better way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon, then watching your favorite team play? To most people this would sound like a dumb question, while others it is considered a no brainer.

As a parent you watch your child grow from a cute little \”T\’ Ball player to a young man playing in front of playoff crowds and cable television. A boy who once turned to the sidelines for reassurance from their parents, now glare into the stands to find that special girl.

Five hours after a stinging playoff lost to Woodbury, I still find it hard to believe the Lion\’s lost. Only one minutes and twenty three seconds stood between another round of playoff football as the Lion\’s held a 21 -20 lead. These \”Cardiac Kids\” were once again in a full 32 minute battle.

This time unlike the other five times when the game was on the line and our Lion\’s walked off with the victory, the tide was turned on the Lion\’s when Woodbury marched 8o yards in 30 seconds to take a 26 – 21 game winning lead with 53 seconds

Trailing in the fourth 20 – 7, Gloucester\’s Adam Dick scored from 3 yards out narrowing the score 20 – 14 with under 5:00 remaining. The Lion\’s defense forced a Woodbury punt on their next possession and with under 3 minutes remaining the Lion\’s took over.

Quarterback Steve Steve Goad hit Brian Collins at the Woodbury 11. The Lion\’s push the ball to the Herd\’s 2 yard line with 1:30 remaining before Goad took a sneak into the end zone giving the Lion\’s a 21 -20 lead after the PAT.

Still the Herd with 1:53 and three timeouts remaining and QB Brian Purnell making his start for the injured Donte Harvey, guided the Herd down field after a VERY unpopular call on a fumble recovery by the Lion\’s Mike Becker was turned back over to the Herd.

Purnell hit running back Sheldon Jackson in the back of the end zone for the winning score.

After this devastating loss I watched the reactions of the parents, fans, players and coaches. Many saying I can\’t believe what just happened. Of course some fans put the blame on a dropped pass, some say WE recovered that fumble, some blame it on an interception. But, many parents wore the loyalty and the passion of this Lion\’s team in their facial expressions. Sadness was the order. Each parent felt worse about their little boy and his team than anything else at the moment.

As I picked up my own son after the game and after a VERY brief conversation, I realized how important the term \”FAMILY\” meant to this team. Fans must realize that NO pass was thrown with the intention to have it intercepted! NO receiver decided to drop a pass! NO player missed a tackle on purpose! NO runner fumbled for no reason. And every player gave 100% effort. The coaches did not make a call which was intended to harm our Lion\’s.

These boys from the starters to the bench players have been together since early August and have been through some tough situations. On the sidelines you see how each player encourages the player who is playing in front of him. You realize that this team is Gloucester City, a hard worker with a strong family unit. This is a testament to the coaching staff.

Gloucester High School Sports is the only diversion many players and parents have in life. This team is responsible for much of the community pride. Football in Gloucester is more than a sport. Saturday football in Gloucester is about unity. It is about young men fulfilling their few dreams. It is young players who face daily struggles, making the best of an opportunity only to please a community. To many this is their only sense of pride.

In Woodbury Saturday parents realized that they have 36 children playing not just one. They felt sorrow for ALL these players. Remember this same quarterback threw many important touchdowns this season, the receivers made many important catches this season, the same missed tackle was made hundreds of times this season and YES we did recover many fumbles this season.

Every March college basketball starts March Madness with 65 teams. By the end of March, 64 teams go home in defeat. Remember that most of these 64 losing teams are conference winners. Champions! Many teams are the most elite programs in the country.

It may be hard to forget the end result of the Woodbury game, but look at the six times this season when Gloucester walked home with the victory. Remember when many families were vacationing, when others were home eating a family dinner, these young men were giving all of Gloucester everything they had Monday through Friday in the heat, in the cold and darkness, then going home to fulfill their educational responsibilities just so Gloucester City can have that Saturday Morning pride each week.

Tomorrow your hurt will be gone, it will be another week of work and the players will begin preparing for next week and in the end the Lion\’s will enter the field on Thanksgiving Day with the same will and desire to walk off with a victory.

 

 

 

Photos by Bruce Darrow-

Prior to the opening kickoff the Lions stand in respect of our Flag as the National Anthem is played. Pictured up front from left #54 Jerry Murphy, #8 Steve Goad, #25 Jeremy Collins, #22 Frank Heitman, #5 Bret Darrow.

Quarterback Steve Goad hit Brian Collins at the Woodbury 11. The Lion\’s push the ball to the Herd\’s 2 yard line with 1:30 remaining before Goad took a sneak into the end zone giving the Lion\’s a 21 -20 lead after the PAT.  

Still the Herd with 1:53 and three timeouts remaining and QB Brian Purnell making his start for the injured Donte Harvey, guided the Herd down field after a VERY unpopular call on a fumble recovery by the Lion\’s Mike Becker was turned back over to the Herd. story continues see photo gallery  

Gloucester High Football Coach Leon Harris with #53 Dan Burrows and #54 Jerry Murphy.