Broncs clinch MAAC tournament berth

By Rich Saile

On March 6, Rider men’s basketball clinched its spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament with a 78-50 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins thanks to the Niagara Purple Eagles defeating the Saint Peter’s Peacocks in overtime. The Broncs improved their seeding for the tournament on March 8 with a nail biting 77-76 win over Niagara to clinch the eighth seed. The Broncs will take on the Siena Saints on March 11 in the first round of the MAAC tournament. 

Cruising win over Canisius

Following their gritty road win at Merrimack, theBroncs traveled back to Alumni Gym to take on the Canisius Golden Griffins, looking to finish the regular season strong with their final two games at home. The Broncs, looking to avenge an 18-point loss earlier in the season on Jan. 10 that gave the Griffins their first win of the season, had one goal in mind: finish the job and take care of business at hand. After Canisius scored the first four points of the game, the Broncs dominated by attacking the paint and spacing the ball out to their three-point shooters to stress the opposing defense. 

The Broncs started a 27-5 run with layups and floaters to get quick easy baskets while junior guard Zion Cruz splashed a pair of three-pointers as the Broncs overwhelmed the Griffins. Freshman guard Flash Burton picked off a pass, resulting in  Cruz scoring on a putback shot while graduate student guard T.J. Weeks swished a three from the right corner and completed a three-point play after he was fouled on a layup. 

With the Broncs out in front, forward Cole McCabe came off the bench and scored six points. Fans jumped out of their seats when sophomore forward Ife West-Ingram slammed an alley-oop dunk, allowing the Broncs to take a commanding 44-25 lead into halftime. The Broncs scored more than 40 points in the first half in consecutive games and shot over 50% from the floor while forcing the Griffins to 10 turnovers. 

Energized by a strong first half the Broncs were looking to duplicate the same success into the second half. Rider opened the half on a 13-2 run led by sophomore guard Ruben Rodriguez splashing a three-pointer on the right wing and converted a layup while being fouled. Rodriguez  made the free throw to complete a three-point play. Most of the bench got strong minutes as McCabe and Zocko Littleton each scored four points in the second half. The Broncs handled Canisius in the second half to seal a huge 78-50 win that helped punch their ticket into the MAAC tournament following an overtime loss from Saint Peter’s to Niagara. 

“What I love is guys are sharing the ball, making the extra passes, finding the open guys. You can tell these guys are enjoying playing with one another, understanding one another. It’s just enjoyable. I thought we’d get here sooner, but we’re here and it’s good that this is the time that we’re doing it” Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett said after the win. 

Nail-biting win in the final seconds

On Senior day, the Rider Broncs looked to end the regular season on a high note as they took on the Niagara Purple Eagles on March 8. The Broncs and Purple Eagles were in a tightly contested contest for the first half. Ingraham scored five early points for the Broncs in the first six minutes of the game while Broncs executed their game plan of winning the paint and getting easy buckets. Defensively it was a struggle as the Purple Eagles made seven three-pointers in the first half and Niagara led by as many seven points before halftime.

 Cruz and Weeks each splashed two triples to help the Broncs eventually tie the game late in the first half. But the Purple Eagles had one more opportunity to take the lead on the last shot of the half as Damondre McKnight made a buzzer-beating layup as time expired to give Niagara a 37-35 lead into halftime. 

Looking to bounce back for the second half the Broncs relied on Weeks and Ingraham to keep their focus on getting high efficient shots and easy layups. The Broncs engaged in a back and forth for the first few minutes of the second half until Niagara went on a run when they made four three-pointers in a three-minute span to go up by nine points with just under nine minutes left in the game.

 Weeks and Ingraham continued to rally the Broncs back from the deficit but Burton and Rodriguez converted a pair of critical three pointers and Cruz made the tying layup with just over three and half minutes left. The Purple Eagles made two layups to get easy baskets and stress the Broncs defense but the Broncs offense aggressively attacked the basket with Weeks and Ingraham each making two free throws to cut Niagara’s lead down to a point. After a free throw made by Niagara, to give Niagara a two-point lead with 31 seconds left, the Broncs had one more chance on their home floor to put up a game-winning shot. 

Cruz missed a jumper that put the ball into the arms of Weeks who passed the ball to Burton on the right wing and splashed a clutch three-pointer with four seconds left to give Rider a one-point lead as Alumni Gym erupted with joy. The Purple Eagles had one more chance to get a shot off but missed the three-point attempt as the Broncs survived a nail-biter with a 77-76 win over the Purple Eagles. 

“It was just sporadic I guess you could say. It wasn’t really a play. We had a play, but it’s just like March Madness that you watch on TV. It’s just a preview. That shot wasn’t for me. It was for them. I wanted them to win. I love this team. This team is great. That shot was bigger than me. It was for us so we could win on Senior Night” Burton said on his game-winning shot. 

Tariq Ingraham and TJ Weeks both played their last game in Alumni Gym as seniors and now shift their focus to keeping the Broncs season alive with the MAAC tournament looming ahead. 

“I’m going to tell the guys that how it was today, that kind of sense that the game was, that’s how the MAAC tournament is going to be. It’s going to be a dog fight, it’s going to be close, you’re going to have fans cheering, talking smack – all of that. I think for us it’s a new season. Our regular season record is out the window now. 0-0 for us. Fresh start. Now we can improve on what we learned the whole season” Weeks said of the team’s mindset going into MAAC tournament play.

The Broncs finish the regular season 13-18 overall and 9-11 in MAAC play as they clinched the eighth seed and travel to Atlantic City on Tuesday March 11 to take on the ninth seed Siena Saints in the first round of the MAAC tournament. The Broncs defeated the Saints 61-59 earlier in the season on Feb. 8, the lone meeting between the two teams coincidentally ended with a game-winner from Tank Byard. The Broncs move to 8-5 in games decided by five points or less and 6-5 in such games within the MAAC. Tipoff at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Arena will start at 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.