Rider to Face Liberty in CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Rider Sports Information
Lawrenceville, N.J. - The Rider University men’s basketball team is heading to Lynchburg, Virginia on Tuesday, March 17 to take on Liberty University in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
"We are very excited to be playing in the post season again this year,” said head coach Tommy Dempsey, who has won 58 games over the last three seasons, the most ever over a three-year period at Rider. “Liberty had a great season so it will be a great challenge for us."
The Broncs (19-12) finished in third place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and lost in double overtime to the second seed, 26-win Niagara in the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship semifinals.
“Our loss against Niagara was a very tough loss to deal with. I think it will feel good to get back out on the court,” Dempsey said.
Rider has won five of its last six and 10 of its last 14 games and is 8-8 away from home this year.
Liberty (22-11) lost to VMI in the semifinals of the Big South Tournament. Liberty spent 11 weeks ranked in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25 and received votes an additional five weeks during the season.
Liberty’s appearance in the CIT marks the third postseason in Liberty’s Division I history the Flames have played beyond the Big South Basketball Championship. Liberty’s other two appearances in postseason beyond the Big South Tournament has come in the NCAA Tournament, with the last appearance coming in 2004.
Tuesday’s contest will begin a new all-time series between Rider and Liberty. Liberty is 3-5 all-time against current members of the MAAC, including an 86-81 home triumph over Niagara on Dec. 1, 2007.
The CollegeInside.com Postseason tournament features 16 teams. Criteria for selection included win-loss record, strength of schedule, strength of conference and final ten games.
The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament is a single-elimination tournament, consisting of four rounds, with the first three rounds being played at on-campus sites, which will be determined by seeding. The inaugural championship game will be played at an on-campus site to be determined by seeding.
In 2008, Rider won 23 games, finished tied for first place in the MAAC regular season and finished runner-up in the 2008 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship. The Broncs were rewarded with a post-season game in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. Rider traveled to Old Dominion of the CAA and lost by three points.
CIT Schedule Format
First round will be played on Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18
Quarterfinal games will be played on Monday, March 23 (Teams will be re-seeded based on geography)
Semifinal games will be played on Wednesday, March 25
Championship game played on Tuesday, March 31
FIRST ROUND:
Tuesday March 17
Rider (19-12) @ Liberty (22-11)
Kent State (19-14) @ Oakland (22-12)
Wednesday March 18
The Citadel (20-12) @ Old Dominion (21-10)
Mount St. Mary’s (19-13) @ James Madison (19-14)
Austin Peay (19-13) @ Bradley (18-14)
Belmont (19-12) @ Evansville (17-13)
Portland (19-12) @ Pacific (19-12)
Drake (17-15) @ Idaho (16-15)
QUARTERFINALS: Monday, March 23
SEMIFINALS: Wednesday, March 25
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Tuesday, March 31 (televised on Fox College Sports)