Losing streak reaches nine, Rider falls to winless Canisius
By Benjamin Shinault
Rider men’s basketball’s nightmare season has hit a new low as it fell to the Canisius Golden Griffins 85-67 for a ninth straight loss. Despite a season-high 23 points from junior guard Zion Cruz, the Broncs were nowhere close to earning what would have been their first win since Nov. 23.
“Every man’s got to look in the mirror and really dig deep because this is about as low as my program has been,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said.
Both Canisius and Rider went bucket-for-bucket to begin the game, until the Broncs took their largest lead of the game at four when they led 16-12 after a set of Cruz free throws. After a Golden Griffin 3-pointer and a jumper, Canisius was able to tie up the game at 17-17.
The Broncs snapped right back at Canisius and jumped right back to a four-point lead after a layup from senior guard Jay Alvarez and another jumper from Cruz. After that, Canisius fought back and retook the lead for good.
Right after Canisius took the lead back from the Broncs, it went on a 19-5 run to close out the first half. The Broncs entered the break down 11.
Graduate student forward Tariq Ingraham stood out for the Broncs offensively in the first half and scored 10 of the Broncs’ 28 first-half points. Ingraham, by the end of the matchup, tallied 18 points and five rebounds.
The second half began with a bucket in the paint from Ingraham, which was soon followed by three straight 3-pointers from Canisius serving as a harsh reality check for the Broncs defensively.
Following the onslaught from Canisius beyond the arc, Cruz hit a 3-pointer of his own. Cruz set a season-high of 23 points in the loss, while also finishing with four rebounds two assists and two blocks.
“Zion, offensively, did some great things, but defensively, he’s gotta get better. He had his fair share of breakdowns too,” Baggett said.
Defensively for the Broncs, the 39 points in the first half was the second most they have allowed all year, and it didn’t get better in the second, as they let up even more with 46. The Golden Griffins were very efficient shooting the basketball as they finished with a field goal percentage of 62.3% and shot an astonishing 78% in the second half.
Rider, down by 15 after a Cruz 3-pointer, slowly tried to crawl back into the game, as the Broncs closed the gap to 10 with about six minutes to go, but Canisius wouldn’t let the scoring get any closer and closed out the game to win 85-67.
With the loss, Rider and Saint Peter’s are the only two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams searching for their first conference win. Rider’s nine-game losing streak is tied for the second-longest losing streak in Division I. Only Green Bay is longer with its 12-game losing streak.
The Broncs will continue the search for even a glimmer of hope, as they continue their Western New York trip, next taking on the Niagara Purple Eagles on Jan. 12 at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
