LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops continued its College Hoops coverage for the 2011-12 season with a trip down to Alumni Gym on the campus of Rider University to take in the second round of the HG Philly Hoops Classic between the Broncs and the Quakers of Penn. Â The Broncs entered the contest after a loss to previously tenth ranked Pitt. Â Penn has two former GMC players on its roster in Zach Rosen of Colonia and Steve Rennard of St. Joseph’s. Â Former Scotch Plains standout Charles Oliver plays for Rider.
Former Colonia Standout Rosen Steps Up To Help Lead Penn To OT Win, 78-72
Overtime was needed to decide the outcome of this one. Â Trailing by seven points with less than a minute and a half to play in bonus time, Rider almost came back with a rally that closed the gap to two points, but the Broncs ran out of gas. Â UPenn outscored the home team by a margin of 19-13 to post a 78-72 victory. Â Miles Cartwright led the way with a game high 27 points along with 2 rebounds, a steal, assist, and a block. Â Rosen chipped in with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Â Tyler Bernardini added 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steasl, and an assist.
Meanwhile, for Rider, Daniel Stewart turned in a solid performance with a team high 26 points including an 18 of 24 effort at the foul line. Â Stewart also collected 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist. Â Virginia transfer Jeff Jones added 19 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and a steal while Anthony Myles chipped in with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Â See the box score from the game. Â There were 8 lead changes and 6 ties in the contest. Â UPenn’s biggest lead was 10 points while Rider’s was as big as six. Â View the play-by-play from the contest.
The game started off slowly as both teams began the game cold from the field. Â Over the first 4:20, there were two field goals, and both were by Penn. Â The Quakers got on the board first with a layup at the 17:43 mark, and then after Rider made one of two at the line to get on the board with 16:30 left in the first half, Penn got a three pointer by Bernardini from the left wing for a 5-1 lead prior to the Broncs calling for time at the 15:40 mark.
Following the timeout, the Quakers continued to outplay the Broncs, which didn’t appear focused earlier on. Â Rosen swiped a steal, and set up Cartwright for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in two free throws for a 7-1 lead. Â Penn got two more steals as the visitors from Philadelphia continued to outwork and outhustle Rider. Â The Quakers never gave up on plays including a play, where they dove for a ball going out of bounds before calling a timeout at the 13:42 mark.
After the stoppage, Penn continued to play smart with a lob pass off a subsequent inbounds underneath the Rider basket for a score, and a 9-1 lead with 13:03 to go in the first half. Â The Quakers had a couple more opportunities, but couldn’t score prior to an official timeout at the 12:20 mark. Â The Broncs didn’t get on the board until about the 11 minute mark after two one of two efforts from the foul line to close the gap to 9-5. Â Penn was very active on defense with players getting a hand on a pass or blocking a shot from behind.
Rider’s offensive futility would continue though as the Broncs struggled to get into a rhythm. Â Rider was held scoreless for over three minutes before another official timeout. Â During that stretch, Penn was unable to take advantage as the Quakers only had a bucket from Bernardini to increase the lead to only six points. Â Following the official timeout at the 7:44 mark, Fran Dougherty netted to from the line for a 13-5 lead. Â Penn would increase its lead to double digits before Stewart scored six points on two layups and two free throws, and Jones netted Rider’s first three, and then converted a conventional three point play prior to another official timeout at the 3:44 mark for a 22-17 Penn lead.
Over the next 2:11 after the resumption of play, Rider continued to creep back into the game as Myles scored on an acrobatic layup and Stewart converted another traditional three point play that narrowed the Penn lead to a single basket at 24-22 with a little more than a minute and a half to play in the opening half. Â The Broncs, which was now in a good offensive flow, then closed the half with a three pointer from Brandon Penn, and two free throws by Jones to take a 28-24 lead at the intermission. Â Rider ended the first half with a 23-9 surge for the lead.
Beginning the second half much like it had started the game, Penn grabbed the lead with eight straight points. Â Cartwright opened the scoring with a layup, and then added a three from the right corner to put the Quakers ahead again at 29-28. Â Bernardini then capped the run with a three of his own at the 18:10 mark for a 32-28 lead. Â Rider didn’t get on the board until the 17:15 mark when Myles struck from the right wing with a trey to close the gap to 32-31. Â Cartwright would respond though with his second trey of the young half for a 35-31 lead prior to an official timeout at the 15:44 mark.
Continuing the momentum, Dougherty drew a foul, and made one of two from the line at the 15:36 mark for a 36-31 Penn lead. Â Eddie Mitchell got the Broncs within two at 36-34 with 14:56 left when he connected on a three from the left wing as he was falling down. Â The three sparked an 8-2 run over a span of just over three minutes as Jones scored on a nifty drive through the lane to tie the game at 38-38, and Novar Gadson gave the Broncs a one point, 39-38 lead by making one of two from the line prior to another official timeout at the 11:55 mark.
After Penn tied the game with one of two free throws, Rider went on a 7-2 run that was sparked by a three from Myles, and finished off with two free throws by Stewart, and a breakaway dunk by John Thompson for a 46-41 lead heading into the official timeout at the 7:56 mark. Â Following the timeout, Brandon Penn, who was fouled before the stoppage, made one of two from the line for a 47-41 lead. Â The Quakers didn’t give up, and actually battled back to take the lead at 48-47. Â Penn scored seven unanswered points, got a three point play from Cartwright, and a score from Rosen, who began to percolate offensively.
Rider wrestled the lead back when Stewart converted a traditional three point play of his own to make the score 50-48. Â Rosen then tied the game with two free throws at the 5:35 mark only to have Stewart respond with two charity shots of his own, and Jones swiped a steal for a layup as he was fouled for a 54-50 lead. Â Rosen continued to heat up though when he fired in a trey from the left wing at the 4:55 mark for a 54-53 Rider lead. Â Myles and Bernadini exchanged layups for a 56-55 Broncs lead going into another official timeout. Â Following the stoppage, Stewart made one of two from the line for a 57-55 lead.
Rider had a few scoring chances to increase their slim lead including an alleyoop dunk attempt, but go up further until Brandon Penn drew a foul, and made two free throws for a 59-55 lead with just over two minutes left. Â The Broncs again had a chance to possibly put the game away, but Penn missed a basket and his teammates couldn’t put in the follow. Â The Quakers then got the rebound, and passed ahead to Rosen for an easy breakaway layup to close the gap to 59-57 with 1:14 to play. Â Following a timeout by UPenn, the Quakers tied the game up when they got a stop on defense, and Cartwright converted at the other end with 35 seconds left in regulation.
The Broncs then held for one shot as Thompson pulled the ball out, and held it until less than ten seconds to go when he drove straight to the basket from the right side, but missed the shot. Â UPenn got the rebound and gave it to Rosen, who held the ball as the buzzer sounded. Â The extra session opened with Rosen zipping a pass to Cartwright for a layup, and a 61-59 UPenn lead at the 4:54 mark. Â Stewart then drew a foul, but only made one of two from the line for a 61-60 Quakers lead with 4:28 to go. Â After stopping UPenn at the other end, Rider went ahead as Stewart drew another foul, and made both free throws for a 62-61 lead at the 4:13 mark.
The lead didn’t last for long as Cartwright drove through the middle for a layin, and a 63-62 lead with 3:54 remaining. Â Rider went ahead again with two free throws at the 3:40 mark, but Bernardini put the Quakers in the driver’s seat with a three from the right side for a 66-64 lead. Â UPenn then got two free throws from Rosen, and another bucket from Cartwright for a 70-65 lead with 1:57 left. Â Despite two free throws by Rosen for a 74-67 lead with a little over a minute left, Rider rallied. Â First, Stewart made two free throws at the 52.9 second mark. Â Then, after Cartwright misfired on two foul shots, Jones pulled up for a three to close the gap to two at 74-72 with 41.5 seconds to go.
Following a Rider timeout, the Broncs were unable to get any closer. Â Cartwright redeemed himself by making both foul shots with 34.5 seconds to go, and UPenn got two more free throws the rest of the way for the hard fought 78-72 overtime victory. Â With the win, the Quakers improved to 2-1 while Rider fell to 0-4. Â Both teams will continue to play in the Philly Hoop Group Classic with Rider taking on Bucknell on November 21st, and Penn facing off against Pitt on the day after Thanksgiving. Â Read the article on this game courtesy of Rider’s athletic department web site.