Men's College Basketball

Princeton University 64, Rider University 58

PRINCETON, NJ— Princeton graduate Mark Feuerstein plays Dr. Hank Lawson in the television show Royal Pains.  On Friday night, Princeton's 6'8” Hans Brase proved to be a royal pain for the Rider Broncs.

Brase made four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots to lead the Tigers to victory over Rider in the 2014 season opener. “There is no question that Brase is a tough match-up for us,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett. “He's a talented big guy who can shoot threes.”

Rider (0-1) was led by junior Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU), who compiled 16 points, four assists and four rebounds in his Rider debut.

With the score tied at 47-47, Princeton out-scored Rider 11-4, six points by Spencer Weisz, to take a 58-51 lead with 2:20 remaining. Weisz finished with 18 points, making seven of nine foul shots.

Speaking of foul shots, that is where the game was won, or lost, at the foul line.

The home Tigers were 17 of 20 from the foul line, including six for six in the final 1:06 to preserve the victory. The visiting Broncs made just two of four free throws. “That's a huge difference,” Baggett said. “I thought we were aggressive. We scored 36 points in the paint. I don't know how we only shot four free throws.”

The Tigers also made nine three-pointers.  “We gave up some costly threes,” Baggett said.

A pair of baskets by sophomore Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) gave Rider a 41-32 lead before the Tigers went on an 11-2 run, six points by Brase, to tie the score at 43-43 with 11:34 left to play.

A preseason All-MAAC selection, Taylor finished with six points, two rebounds and an assist.

Rider out-scored Princeton 14-2 to start the second half, five points by Okereafor and four points by senior Matt Lopez (Erial, NJ/Washington Twp.), to take a 39-30 lead with 14:25 left to play.  Lopez finished with eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes of action in his Rider debut.

“We tried to change the tempo to our liking to start the second half,” Baggett said, “which got us back into the game. I think they dictated during the first half.”

“There was a sense of urgency on our part to be more aggressive,” said Okereafor, who sat out last year after coming to Rider from VCU.

Princeton led 28-25 at the half. The Tigers made eight field goals in the first half, five of them were three-pointers. Rider made 10 first-half field goals, but only three were from beyond the arc.

Okereafor had nine of Rider's 25 first half points.

Princeton made just one of its first seven shots, as Rider took a 6-3 lead, before the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-6 lead after seven minutes of play.

Also for Rider, junior Zedric Sadler (Detroit, Mich/Cody) compiled nine points, four assists and four rebounds.  Sadler missed the season opener last year and was hampered most of the season with a nagging knee injury.  “In order for us to have a successful year we need Zed to be healthy,” Baggett said.  “He's our alpha dog. He starts the defense and we are certainly happy he is healthy from the start this year.”

Rider and Princeton have now met 14 times since the series began in 1931, with Rider winning three.

“This was a tough game to open up with,” Baggett said.  “Princeton did a really good job staying in their offense."

The last time Rider defeated Princeton was during the 2002-03 season.  The Tigers won the last two meetings, at Rider in 2011-12 and here in Jadwin in 2012-13.

Rider travels to Philadelphia to take on another Ivy League team, Penn, Tuesday at 7pm. “Playing this game will help us against Penn,” Baggett said, “because they play a similar style of game. We just need to do a better job defensively.”.

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