Men's College Basketball
Marist College 95, Rider University 75
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY-The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Marist Sunday afternoon. "Marist played very well today and we, obviously, are not playing well right now," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey.
Marist junior guard Devon Price made a career-high six three-pointers and scored a career-high 25 points.
Marist (3-5, 1-1 MAAC) led 58-47 before out-scoring Rider 13-0 to take a 71-47 lead with 11:25 left to play.
At one point Marist led by 27 points, 76-49 with 9:45 left to play.
Holding a 45-40 lead, Marist went on an 11-2 run, six points by Price, to take a 56-42 lead with 16:30 left to play.
Rider (1-8, 0-2 MAAC) out-scored Marist 9-5 over the final 3:50 of the first half, four points by junior Jonathon Thompson (Orlando, Fla./Jones), to cut the lead to 45-36 at intermission. Thompson finished with 10 points.
Sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) led Rider with 22 points.
"We fought but we're just in a tough spot right now," Dempsey said.
Rider junior Dera Nd-Ezuma (Nigeria/Life Center Academy) scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds while senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added 11 points.
Rider freshman Eddie Mitchell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle) finished with eight points and five assists.
Holding a 25-23 lead, Marist out-scored Rider 15-4, seven points by Chavaughn Lewis, to take a 40-27 lead with 3:50 left in the first half. Lewis finished with 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Trailing 20-7, Rider went on a 16-5 run, six points by Penn, to cut the lead to 25-23 with 8:56 left in the first half.
Marist made its first six three-point field goals in the first five minutes, two each by Isaiah Morton and Price, to take a 20-7 lead. Morton finished with 15 points and five assists.
Marist made its first eight three-pointers of the game and finished 13 for 20 (65 percent). Marist entered the game averaging seven three-pointers made per game while shooting 41 percent from three-point range.
"It seems everyone is shooting the ball well against us," Dempsey said. "We can't get stops. When Marist gets going from the three they are a dangerous team. They got going from the three today."
Rider missed its first 13 three-point attempts and finished one for 14. "We've lost a lot of confidence," Dempsey said.
Rider had won eight straight games with Marist before Sunday.
The last time Rider was 1-8 was the 1986-87 season. Rider finished that season 12-16. "Things are not going well right now," Dempsey said. "I wish I had more answers."
Rider and Marist have now met 45 times since the series began in 1980-81, with Rider winning 23.
The last time Marist beat Rider was January 4, 2008, 81-80 at Rider.
Rider travels to the Sunshine State to take on the Florida Gators Friday. The game with Florida will be played on a 'neutral' court, in Jacksonville. "All we can worry about at this point is trying to move forward," Dempsey said.
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