Byard, Broncs snatch 5th MAAC victory at buzzer

By Benjamin Shinault

Rider men’s basketball heard the waves crashing in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but still have work to do to lock up its spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament at the shore. On Feb. 6, The Broncs lost some ground in the tournament race with a 89-77 loss to the Sacred Heart Pioneers but bounced back big with a 61-59 buzzer-beater victory over Siena on Feb. 8.

Early struggles

Rider, only four days removed from a tight loss to Merrimack at home, took a bus trip to Fairfield, Connecticut, to take on Sacred Heart.

The Broncs opened up the scoring with a layup from graduate student forward Tariq Ingraham. But following the layup, Sacred Heart returned the favor with a 11-0 run to get it out to a commanding 13-2 lead to start the game. 

Down 13-2, the Broncs fought hard to try to knot the game back up. Some leading surges in the comeback effort were freshman guard Flash Burton and senior forward Tank Byard. 

Burton, in the first half, supplied 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor and had six rebounds and five assists. 

In the first half of action, the Broncs closed the gap to six multiple times, but could never creep any closer to the Pioneers as they ended the half down 44-36. A critical piece to the Broncs downfall in the first half were their troubles with turnovers as they turned the ball over to the defense 10 times which Sacred Heart would turn into 17 points.

To go along with their turnover troubles, the Broncs had a rough time with fouling as they fouled the Pioneers 17 times, giving them a free 19 points from the charity stripe.

With just 15 minutes left to go in the matchup, the Pioneers had a large lead over the Broncs at 15. The Broncs closed the gap, once again to five when they trailed 68-63 with eight minutes left to go but the Broncs ran out of gas and the Pioneers defended their home court and won the game, 89-77.

Rider’s offense played well, having a shooting percentage of 51% from the field but it was the turnover struggles and the foul mishaps that saw the Broncs suffer their eighth MAAC loss of the year.

‘Thank God’

Offense was tough to come by in a defensive Siena and Rider matchup on Feb. 8. The Broncs, building off the cuffs of a loss to Sacred Heart where the team shot 51% from the field and had 77 total points, had some struggles in their latest matchup getting the ball rolling on the offensive side of the floor.

With just under 10 minutes left to go in the first half, Siena took their first significant lead of the game when they went up seven, 18-11. Rider crept back into the lead with just under two minutes left to go in the first half thanks to a layup from Burton to make the score 28-27. 

Weeks took it upon himself to close out the first half with a dunk and a jumper to give Rider a narrow lead entering the locker room. Weeks, with his 23 points, recorded a new season-high. Weeks also added seven rebounds and three assists.

Coming out of the break, the Broncs started out ice cold, scoring zero points through the first three minutes of the game while Siena hopped out to a 38-32 lead. 

Down six, with 16 minutes remaining in the game, the Broncs closed the gap to one a few minutes later down the line in the game thanks to a layup from senior guard Jay Alvarez. 

The Broncs, still searching to take back their lead for the first time since the beginning of the second half, got it back with a jumper from none other than Weeks to put the Broncs up, 52-51. 

After that, the Broncs offense began to boil at the right time as well as their defense as they skipped off to a 59-53 lead with 1:11 left on the clock. But, following the free throws from Burton to give Rider the six-point lead, Siena emerged with vengeance and tied it up 59-59 after three straight layups down low. By the looks of it, it was looking more and more like another late-game collapse by the Broncs.

Rider, with possession with under 20 seconds to go and the shot clock unplugged, saw the ball in possession of Burton. Burton dribbled the ball with his right hand, drove to the hoop, threw it off the glass, but no bucket. 

Grabbing the rebound with his shooting hand while in the air was Byard, who then sent the shot back up to the net. At the same time as the buzzer sounded at Alumni Gym, was a sound of pure jubilation from Rider fans as the ball nestled into the bottom of the net.

“I just so happened to be in the right spot at the right time,” Byard said. 

Rider has been on the receiving end of tragic, last-second buzzer beaters this season and the team was happy to be on the other side of the miracle.

“Finally good to be on the side where we have a buzzer beater and someone doesn’t have one against us,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said.

It’s February and the Broncs need to start stacking up some conference wins if they want a chance to head down to the sandy wooden planks of the Atlantic City boardwalk.

“Whatever we did today, whatever led up to today, carry that into the last seven games,” Weeks said.

Rider looks to continue the momentum from the buzzer beating victory into their matchup on Feb. 14 as they take a drive to New Rochelle, New York, to take on the Iona Gaels. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.