Men's College Basketball
Iona College 97, Rider University 81
NEW ROCHELLE, NY—The Broncs lost to the defending champion and top seed in the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, Iona College, in the regular season finale Sunday afternoon
The loss was the fourth in a row for Rider, the longest losing streak of the season.
The Broncs will now attempt to put together a four-game winning streak, in Springfield, Mass.
With Niagara losing at Saint Peter's and Quinnipiac losing at Marist, Rider will now be the eighth seed and will play Monmouth, the ninth seed, at 5pm Thursday in the first round of the MAAC Championship Tournament.
Rider has beaten Monmouth twice this year.
“There is no silver lining in playing the play-in game,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett. “I'm not happy about it and I know the players aren't.”
Holding a 64-61 lead, the Gaels (20-9, 17-3 MAAC) went on an 11-0 run to take a 75-61 lead with 8:14 left to play, sealing Rider's fate and seed.
For Rider (13-16, 9-11 MAAC) senior Anthony Myles (Dover, DE/Poly-Tech) scored 19 points and senior Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added 16 points and 11 rebounds, his third 'double-double' of the season and the 16th of his career.
Myles enters the tournament with 1386 points, 16th most ever at Rider, while Stewart now has 1,399 career points, 13th most ever at Rider. Stewart also enters the tournament with 872 career rebounds, just two shy of second most ever at Rider.
“I was happy to see Danny and Anthony finally get on the same page,” Baggett said. “That's what helped us come back. We're going to need those guys in the tournament.”
Also for the Broncs, freshman Jimmie Taylor III (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) added 14 points and six assists. “I think we showed heart in coming back the way we did,” Taylor said.
Rider out-scored Iona 6-2 to start the second half, four points by Taylor, to tie the score at 47-47.
Sophomore Shawn Valentine (Sicklerville, NJ/Phelps) scored a career-high 14 points off the bench. “Shawn gave us some good minutes today,” Baggett said.
Rider out-scored Iona 23-6 over the final 6:45 of the first half, 10 points by Myles, to cut the Gael lead to 45-41 at the half. “Give our guys credit for battling back,” Baggett said.
Iona built a 22-point lead, 35-13, with 8:30 left in the first half
Iona scored the first 13 points of the game and led 25-7 after eight minutes of play, 10 points by Tre Bowman. Bowman finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Rider made just three of its first 12 shots, while Iona made eight of its first 12 from the field. “You can't get down that much to start a game against anybody, especially a team like Iona, the best team in the league,” Baggett said.
Rider shot .446 from the field for the game, while Iona shot .611 from the field.
Iona used a 15-5 run, six points by David Laury, to take a 62-52 lead with 13:36 left to play. Laury finished with 10 points and six re bounds off the bench.
For Iona A.J. English scored 25 points while Sean Armand added 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Rider and Iona have now met 53 times since the series began in 1949-50, with Rider winning 23, including eight of the last 18. Rider is 15-22 vs. Iona since joining the MAAC.
The Broncs lost 80-77 to Iona on ESPNU on February 21. In that game English and Armand each scored 20 points to lead the Gaels.
Rider will now play in the MAAC Tournament opening round. “If we can win that game it will boost our confidence and help us do well in the tournament,” Taylor said.
A win over Monmouth would be the first of four in a row the Rider fans are looking for.
-ru-
