Men's College Basketball

Rider University 62, Fairfield University 46

BRIDGEPORT, CT— As well as being an adult male deer, a Stag is also a stock exchange speculator who applies for shares in a new issue in anticipation of a rise in price when trading commences in order to make a quick profit on resale.

The Rider Broncs' stock is currently on the rise after another win on the road Monday night, this time over the Stags of Fairfield.

Senior Matt Lopez (Erial, NJ/Washington Twp.) compiled his third straight 'double-double' with 14 points and 12 rebounds and junior Zedric Sadler (Detroit, Mich./Cody) added 14 points off the bench to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Fairfield Monday night on ESPN3.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Broncs (9-6, 3-1 MAAC).  The last time Rider won five straight was during the 2012-13 season when the Broncs won the final five games of the regular season.  Rider also won five in a row in January of 2013.

It was the fourth straight road win for the Broncs. The last time Rider won four straight away from home was also during the 2012-13 season, when Rider defeated Jacksonville and Milwaukee in Mexico and then won at Drexel and at Siena.

Rider never trailed in the game and has now won seven of its last eight games.

The loss was the fifth straight for Fairfield (4-10, 2-2 MAAC).

Rider held Fairfield to 46 points, the low of the season and the least since Rider held Fairfield to 43 points in the 2013 MAAC playoffs. “For the most part our defense was really good tonight,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett.

Fairfield used a 14-4 run, six points by Amadou Sidibe, to cut the Rider lead to six points, 48-42, with 5:31 left to play, but that was as close as the Stags could get. Sidibe finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Back-to-back three-pointers from junior Shawn Valentine (Sicklerville, NJ/Phelps) and Sadler gave Rider a 44-28 lead with 11:51 left to play. Valentine added five points in 12 minutes off the bench.

The Rider defense allowed just two Fairfield points over the final 10 minutes of the first half, taking a 24-13 lead at the half.

With the score tied at 9-9, Rider went on a 13-2 run, four points each by junior Khalil Alford (Raleigh, NC/Fishburne Military) and graduate Anthony D'Orazio (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic), to take a 22-11 lead with 1:11 left in the first half. D'Orazio finished with eight points and four assists.

Rider made just eight of 21 foul shots in the game, but the Broncs did knock down five of six in the final 2:48 to preserve the victory. “We are normally pretty good at free throw shooting but at least we made them down the stretch,” Baggett said.

“We'll be practicing our foul shooting this week,” Sadler said.  “We practice them all the time so I don't know how we missed so many tonight.”

An early favorite for the MAAC sixth man award, Sadler now has 46 points in his last three games. “Zed is also getting healthy,” Baggett said. “He's playing with confidence.”

“I had to adjust to this role, of coming off the bench,” Sadler said, “and I think I've adjusted well.”

Lopez had 'double-doubles' against Morgan State and Wagner but missed the Marist game with an illness. “Matt didn't skip a beat,” Baggett said. “I'm certainly happy to have him back. He is a big part of what we are trying to get done here.”

Rider returns home to the Broncs' Zoo to host a pair of hOURglass Rivalry games this weekend, Saint Peter's Saturday afternoon at 2pm and Monmouth Monday night at 7pm.

The Broncs are now 5-3 in away games.  If the Rider Broncs are Road Warriors, than Sadler is Mad Max.

“It will be good to get back home,” Sadler said. “We're happy we were able to get the job done on the road.”

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