Men's College Basketball

Georgia Tech 61, Rider University 54

ORLANDO, FLORIDA— In the past, Rider basketball games against teams from the ACC usually meant “Another Calamity of a Contest.”  

But not this time.

Along with “Yellow Jackets” the Georgia Tech nickname is a “Ramblin Wreck”. After one-sided losses to teams from the Big XII and the BIG10, facing a team from the ACC had some Rider basketball fans fearful this current road trip was in jeopardy of becoming a “train wreck.”

But it didn't.

The Rider Broncs shook off two tough losses in the Orlando Classic to a pair of top-20 teams and stood toe to toe with Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Heading into this game, ACC teams were a combined 61-18 in the first 79 games of the 2014-15 season. Rider entered this game an unlucky 0-13 against ACC teams.

But on Friday night Rider trailed by just four points with two minutes remaining.  Too many Georgia Tech second chances and not quite enough Rider foul shots caused the Broncs to fall to 2-4 on the season.

“I thought our guys really showed up tonight with the right mentality, really focused,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett.  “We came out and competed.”

One of Rider's areas of strength in recent years, the outside shooting, let the Broncs down tonight, as Rider made just three of 19 three-point attempts. “We're still struggling from the perimeter,” Baggett said.  “We're just not making those shots that we usually do. We had open looks and the opportunities were there. We make some of those and we had a good chance to win this game. I felt we were not as sharp as we needed to be at the foul line (9-14), missing some key free throws.”

The much larger Georgia Tech (4-1) team also dominated the backboards, 49-26, including 19 offensive rebounds.  “We got hurt on the glass,” Baggett said.  “We gave them too many second opportunities.”

Georgia Tech turned the 19 offensive rebounds into 20 'second chance' points.

For the second game in a row, the Broncs were led by senior Matt Lopez (Erial, NJ/Washington Twp.), who compiled 13 points and five rebounds.

Trailing 32-30, Georgia Tech went on an 11-0 run to take a 41-32 lead with 15:49 left in the game.

But Rider used a 12-4 run, five points by junior Zedric Sadler (Detroit, Mich/Cody), to cut the Georgia Tech lead to 47-46 with 7:10 left to play. Sadler finished with nine points and four rebounds. “I thought Zedric gave us a good lift,” Baggett said.

Georgia Tech jumped out to a 12-4 lead and led 17-9 mid-way through the first half.

The second half of the first half of play belonged to the Broncs.  Rider went on a 15-6 run, five points by junior Shawn Valentine (Sicklerville, NJ/Phelps), to take a 26-25 lead with 1:55 left in the first half, and the score was tied at 30-30 at the half. Valentine came in off the bench to compile nine points and a pair of steals.

Also for the Broncs, junior Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU) added seven points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Despite the loss, Rider seemed to turn the corner after having its confidence shaken against Kansas and Michigan State.

“I'm proud of our group,” Baggett said.  “I thought they really competed tonight against another good team. We're just trying to grind it out right now. I like the way we played today, opposed to the way we played yesterday. I like the way they responded after a tough loss to Michigan State.”

The Broncs will now play Sunday morning at 10:30am against Santa Clara on ESPN3. To be successful, Rider will have to regain its outside shooting.  “This group can shoot the ball, so I'm confident we'll make shots, we're just struggling right now,” Baggett said. “We'll be ready for Sunday.”

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