
Rider snags fifth road win, snaps historic losing streak
By Benjamin Shinault
Rider men’s basketball took a breath of fresh air after the final buzzer went off at Niagara as the Broncs snapped their nine-game losing streak and picked up their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win of the season. Rider’s 68-65 victory over Niagara was their fifth road win of the season.
From late-game heroics from senior forward Tank Byard and another double-digit performance from graduate student guard T.J. Weeks, the Broncs can finally look past their early-MAAC play struggles.
The beginning of the game looked like more of the same for the Broncs as the Purple Eagles went on a run to gain a quick 9-4 lead thanks to three straight 3-pointers. But, the Broncs responded immediately with a 11-0 run to put them up 17-13 with just under 11 minutes to go in the first half.
The Purple Eagles did not stray away from the three-point arc as they laced two more 3-pointers to knot up the game at 19-19. Niagara finished the matchup with seven 3-pointers made on a 36.8% shooting percentage.
After a layup down low, Niagara momentarily took the lead 22-21, which was soon neutralized by the Broncs as they went on another run where they scored 10 straight points on the Purple Eagles to go up 31-22.
Weeks Jr and senior guard Jay Alvarez split the scoring down the middle on the 10-0 run. Both Alvarez and Weeks finished in double figures as Weeks had 18 points and four 3-pointers and Alvarez finished close behind with 13 points.
With Rider up 31-22 after the run, Niagara added a few more points and Rider tacked on a jumper to make it 33-26 entering the halftime break.
Niagara opened up the scoring in the second half to close the cap to 33-28, but Alvarez followed that score up with a 3-pointer. A few minutes after the Alvarez three, the Broncs were once again able to jump out to a commanding nine-point lead thanks to a Weeks 3-pointer.
Weeks, with his four total 3-pointers, is now slotted in at eighth in the MAAC with 31 total. Weeks is also 10th in overall scoring with an average of 13.2 points per game.
With Rider’s lead at nine, Niagara made things interesting and went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to a single bucket, 41-38. Weeks extended the Broncs lead back out to five, but both teams started going at each other’s necks and no team could really peel away.
It wasn’t until halfway through the second half where the Purple Eagles took back the lead for the first time since early on in the first. With the Purple Eagles up by 48-47, the game continued to go back and forth until the game was tied. From there, it was all Byard.
Byard scored the Broncs final seven points of the game thanks to great free throw shooting and overall great interior play. Byard finished the game with a season-high 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 shooting from the free throw line. Byard also added a season-high five rebounds.
Thanks to some great late free throw shooting, Byard helped the Broncs win the game, 68-65 and stop the losing streak at nine.
“All the credit goes to the players, It’s all about them, the energy they displayed, the battle they displayed,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said, “to find a way to win, is just an exhale for a day.”
The Broncs will now start fresh with a one-game winning streak and hope to build upon it as they head home to Alumni Gym to face off against the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.