Can Monmouth-Rider be a premier rivalry again?

LAWRENCEVILLE – Before Rider left the Northeast Conference for the Metro Atlantic Conference following the 1996-97 season, the Broncs and Monmouth University had the premier rivalry in the NEC.

Like any great rivalry, Monmouth-Rider was built on high-profile matchups. Most famously, Rider advanced to the 1994 NCAA Tournament at Monmouth's expense, winning that season's NEC Tournament final, 62-56, in Lawrenceville. Two years later with the scene moved to venerable Boylan Gymnasium, Monmouth broke through to the NCAA Tournament for the first time with a 60-59 win with ESPN cameras in West Long Branch for the first time.

After Rider left the NEC, the teams continued to play annually, but the rivalry lost something without the conference affiliation. Following Monmouth's 55-54 come-from-behind win at Alumni Gymnasium on Monday night, maybe the rivalry is on its way back. Both teams entered Monday at 4-1 in the MAAC, both have exceeded preseason expectations and both believe they have the pieces to be contenders moving forward.

The Broncs entered the night as the hottest team in the conference, winning six straight and eight of nine before the Hawks used a 12-4 run over the final 5:06 to steal the win. The victory snapped a nine-game Rider winning streak in the series dating back to Nov. 30, 2006. In a series that goes back to 1974-75, the Broncs lead, 26-16.

"It can't be a rivalry until the other team starts winning, too," Monmouth head coach King Rice said. "Hopefully, we can hold up our end of the deal."

In Monmouth's first season in the MAAC last winter, Rider swept all three contests, but all three were entertaining. The Broncs claimed an 89-83 win in West Long Branch in Monmouth's MAAC debut in front of a season-high 2,705 at the Multipurpose Activity Center and an ESPN3 audience. Rider got the regular-season sweep later in the season via a wild 77-71 overtime decision, then ended the Hawks' season in the first round of the MAAC Tournament, 71-60.

In that 8-seed vs. 9-seed MAAC Tournament game, Monmouth led by eight with 11:19 to go, but fell to an older, more-seasoned squad.

A year later, both Rice and Rider head coach Kevin Baggett agree that their respective teams have similarities, which can only enhance the rivalry. Both defend well, both have quality pieces on offense, both happen to be sophomore-heavy and both happen to have fifth-year senior big men capable of making an impact. While Monmouth has Providence transfer Brice Kofane, Rider has gotten a lot out of 7-foot Utah State transfer and Erial native Matt Lopez, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds despite playing just 23 minutes while saddled with foul trouble.

"Our Commissioner (Rich Ensor) has built this league for a long time," Rice said. "This is one of the best leagues. Now, we're in this league and we're going to have a few rivals because there are Jersey schools and the MAAC is known for games like this. I hope we start becoming rivals with people because that means we're holding up our end of the deal."

Monmouth will face another New Jersey team on Wednesday in St. Peter's. The Hawks and Peacocks have played 29 times since 1963-64 with the latter owning a 21-8 advantage in the series. That includes a sweep of both meetings last season.

Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com