Rider soars over Eastern in home-opener

By Samantha Clark

In the Broncs’ home opener on Nov. 15, Rider hosted the Eastern University Eagles in the Alumni Gym, putting up an 86-54 win for the programs’ first ever matchup. 

‘All the credit goes to the players’

With an assist from sophomore forward Cole McCabe, senior forward Mohamad Diallo shattered the rim with a dunk in the first 20 seconds. 

Strong defensive efforts from junior guard Caleb Smith and the rest of the Broncs allowed for little    successful shots from the Eagles, leaving them scoreless for the first minute-and-a-half of play.

“Guys flying around, us pressing [the opposing team], guys diving on the ground for loose balls… That’s the type of team that I like to see,” Head Coach Kevin Baggett said.

Smith continued his impressive performance with a layup in the paint while being swarmed by two Eagles.

After the basketball was knocked out of bounds, the Broncs gained possession, which Diallo converted to another dunk. Diallo went on to successfully complete all of his shots throughout the entire game, going 5-5 in field goal attempts.

Eastern continued on another scoreless drought, and on the other side of the court, McCabe tossed one up and multiple foul shot attempts followed, putting up easy points on the Broncs’ scoreboard. 

Sophomore guard Flash Burton proved that the defense remained strong, diving into the courtside seats to maintain possession, and later laid up a jumper off an offensive rebound.

The Broncs went on a three-minute period of no points, and in this time, the Eagles only went 1-4 in field goal attempts and 1-6 in 3-pointers. 

Sophomore forward Davis Bynum snapped the scoreless streak with a field goal, and Rider did notallow another Eastern point for two straight minutes. 

McCabe assisted senior forward Shemani Fuller for his first points of the game, who later went on to reach his career high as a Bronc with seven points. 

Defended by three Eagles, senior guard Zion Cruz attempted a jump shot, and with the help from Diallo’s defense, the basketball slipped into the net.

Eastern drove to the basket with a dunk attempt, until McCabe snuck behind with the block, smacking the ball out of their possession. 

Smith was fouled at the buzzer, and with less than two seconds put back on the clock, he made one out of three to end the half with the score locked 36-36.

In the Broncs’ first two performances of the regular season, against the University of Virginia on Nov. 3 and Rutgers University on Nov. 5, second-half woes were a repeated theme in both matchups.

However, coming out of their players-only halftime meeting, the team’s energy was anything but woeful. 

“All the credit goes to the players,” Baggett said. “Zion and Flash asked us to remove ourselves out of the locker room, and whatever they said worked.”

Once again, Diallo opened the half with an impressive performance on the wood, with a block that prevented early Eagle opportunities.

Smith followed with a drive to the basket for an easy layup, and later jumped over a pair of defenders for back-to-back points. 

Cruz stepped out in the second with a reverse layup in the paint, and Burton continued the momentum with an alley-oop to force an Eagles timeout. 

The Broncs held Eastern scoreless for the first six-and-a-half minutes, where they went on a 20-0 run to open the second half. 

Burton continued to protect the possession after a potential steal attempt from the Eagles, which he later converted into a 3-pointer. 

Cruz soared past the Eagles for a deep dunk from the arc, McCabe hit a 3-pointer and the entire Alumni Gym erupted in noise, matching the vigor on the court. 

“That energy was felt through every shot. Every time we hear somebody in the stands yell, we just     wanna be better for them,” Burton said. 

Diallo spun through two defenders for a tip in, and although Rider went on a two-minute scoring drought, they only allowed three points from the Eagles.

Cruz broke the streak with a drive to the basket, and followed up almost immediately with a 3-pointer. 

Freshman guard AB Coulibaly attacked the net with a fastbreak dunk for his first ever field goal as a Bronc, closing the matchup at 86-54.

Burton matched his career high of 21 points, more than Eastern put up in the entire second half. 

“We wanted it more tonight,” Burton said. “Coming off two losses, it’s a learning experience, so we just wanted to get better and come out and win on our home court.”

The Broncs look to continue this momentum as they face off the University of Houston on Nov. 20 at 9 p.m. The game will be streamed on TNT.