Rider loses fifth straight in 72-55 defeat to Stony Brook
By Benjamin Shinault
The harsh winter continued for Rider men’s basketball as it has now lost five straight games. On Dec. 14, the Stony Brook Seawolves came into Alumni Gym and attacked the Broncs from start to finish, taking the win 72-55.
Over the course of the game, Rider only had the lead for one minute and 33 seconds, while Stony Brook led for 35 minutes.
Coming into the game, the Broncs were going to be without their top scorer, graduate student guard T.J. Weeks Jr, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered against Quinnipiac on Dec. 6.
Stony Brook took control early, but the Broncs were finally able to take a 21-20 lead over the Seawolves with a dunk off a fastbreak from freshman guard Flash Burton.
Burton stepped up in Weeks’ absence as he finished with 13 points, four assists and two rebounds. The freshman guard has now scored in double figures five times thus far this season.
Senior guard Jay Alvarez tied with Burton for Rider’s top scorer with his 13 points. Alvarez also recorded two steals, grabbed three rebounds and hit a three.
Right after the Broncs took a one-point lead, 21-20, Stony Brook went on a 14-3 run heading into the break. A critical part to that run and the commanding win for the Seawolves as a whole was their attack on the offensive glass as Stony Brook had 19 second chance points and 11 offensive rebounds.
Heading back on the hardwood were the Broncs facing a 10-point deficit to Stony Brook. The Broncs erased a good amount of the deficit in the second half and came as close as 36-32 after some junior guard Zion Cruz free throws but Rider never climbed back.
“Not a good performance. It started with me and all the way down, just not a good performance,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said.
On the offensive side for the Broncs, they only shot 40% from the field and made only two of their 12 three-point attempts. Rider was out-rebounded, 35-25 which led to a lot of second chance points for the Seawolves.
Defensively, Stony Brook flourished from beyond the arc as it hit 13-of-25 shots and had its fair share of slashing through the Rider defense as they scored 22 points down low.
Both teams played chippy as the Seawolves and the Broncs combined for 29 personal fouls.
“We’ve got to play together as a team, not individuals,” Baggett said, “We’ve been struggling to communicate on both ends of the court and we’ve got to do a better job of doing that.”
The Broncs look to snap the losing skid as they take on the University of Pennsylvania on Dec. 20 at 6 p.m on the road.
