Men’s College Basketball: Rider University 61, Charleston Southern University 54

LAWRENCEVILLE - Senior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones) scored 15 points and sophomore Junior Fortunat (Montreal, Quebec/Roman Catholic) added 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Rider to victory over Charleston Southern in the Ramada Worldwide BracketBuster game Saturday evening (Feb. 23).

Rider (16-13, 10-6 MAAC) trailed 44-39 before out-scoring CSU 13-2, eight points by freshman Khalil Alford (Raleigh, NC/Fishburne Military), to take a 52-46 lead with 4:45 remaining. That was the eighth and final lead change of the game.

The Broncs made seven of eight foul shots in the final 52 seconds, four by Thompson, to preserve the victory, Rider’s third in a row and 10th in the last 14 games.

Fortunat did not miss a shot, going five for five from the field and two for two from the foul line in 23 minutes of action off of the bench.

Rider went on an 11-0 run to take a 39-36 lead with 11:53 left to play.

Charleston Southern (16-10, 11-3 Big South) used a 12-2 run, four points each by Cedrick Bowen and Paul Gombwer, to take a 25-20 lead with 2:58 left in the first half, and the Bucs led 27-24 at the half.

Bowen finished with 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Gombwer finished with seven points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Arlon Harper led CSU with 13 points, making six of eight foul shots.

Rider junior Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) scored five points in a 9-2 Rider run that gave the Broncs an 18-13 lead with 7:37 left in the first half. Myles finished with eight points and five rebounds.

CSU won the South Division of the Big South with a 92-69 win over VMI Thursday, its 12th win in its last 15 games. CSU came into the game second in the nation with 9.3 three-pointers made per game, but made just four of 19 on Saturday.