Rider comes up short to Fairfield in MAAC opener
By Benjamin Shinault
Defensive struggles followed Rider men’s basketball to Connecticut, where the Broncs faced off against the Fairfield Stags in their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener on Dec. 4. Rider tied it up 67-67 late in the second half but could not quite finish the job and lost 78-75, bringing its MAAC record to 0-1.
The 7 p.m. tipoff went to Fairfield off a tap from graduate student forward Tariq Ingraham, but Rider got the ball right back after forcing a turnover.. In the early stages of the ballgame, the Broncs controlled the tempo as Rider scored seven of the game’s first 10 points.
Soon after the hot start for Rider, Fairfield got its first significant lead of the game when the Stags went up 21-15 with ten minutes left to go in the first half. The 21-15 lead did not last long for the Stags as the Broncs were able to climb back to tie it at 21-21, thanks to graduate student guard T.J. Weeks Jr who scored four points within a minute.
Weeks, by the end of the matchup, finished with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. The 21 points are the most Weeks has scored in a Rider uniform.
“Give credit to T.J. Weeks who was coaching his team from the huddles,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said.
The tie did not last long as the very next Fairfield possession gave the Stags some much-needed scoring and momentum before the end of the half, entering the locker room up 39-34.
Fairfield continued its slight edge over the Broncs in the second half as the Stags maintained the lead and built it up to 14 with 11 minutes left to go.
Both teams struggled mightily from the free throw stripe as Fairfield shot 64% in comparison to Rider’s 61%.
“[The] difference in tonight’s game was the free throw line,” Baggett said. “You’ve got to make free throws and that game should’ve never been that way.”
Rider and Fairfield exchanged buckets up until there were seven minutes remaining. The Broncs, down 65-51, needed to act fast and they did.
Ingraham started the comeback for the Broncs with a tip-in. Ingraham stood out offensively against the Stags, having 21 points and 14 rebounds.
After the bucket from Ingraham came a jumper from junior guard Zion Cruz. After that, it was all Weeks, who cashed in two 3-pointers within 21 seconds of each other, making the score 67-63 with four minutes left to go and forcing the Stags to call a timeout.
After the timeout, Rider continued to pour it on the Stags and ended up storming all the way back from a 14-point deficit to tie it at 67.
The score was 77-75 with one second left when Cruz and a Stag both received technical fouls. This led to a few substitutions for both teams and another free throw from Fairfield making it 78-75. Rider did not have enough time to build a play and saw their comeback come up short at 78-75.
“Give our guys credit for coming back into the game,” Baggett said after the narrow loss.
The Broncs move to their next matchup against another Connecticut foe, the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The Broncs will welcome them to Alumni Gym on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
