Box Score Men's College Basketball
Rider University 82, University of Hartford 80 (double overtime)
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ— A New Year's resolution is a tradition in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something nice for others.
The Rider men's basketball team continues to show improvement, which the fans think is very nice.
In its three previous games, Rider won by 10 points at Charleston Southern, lost by eight points at Providence (currently ranked 10th), and won by 22 points at Morgan State.
On Wednesday night, the Broncs closed the books on 2015 with a promising performance. Rider returned to an old tradition of winning in the Broncs' Zoo.
“We got down early and we got down late but we found a way to win tonight,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett. “We did a good job of persevering. Our last four or five games we began to turn the corner. We're in a good place now. I like the way we've hung in there. No one has dropped their heads, no one is pointing any fingers. I like where we are at now.”
Rider graduate student Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU) compiled 23 points and made six of seven foul shots in overtime to lead Rider to a double overtime win over Hartford Wednesday night.
Okereafor made 13 of 20 foul shots in the game, including five of six in the final 34 seconds, for the win.
In the biblical book of Ephesians (5:16) it says “make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”
With injuries and illness depleting the backcourt, senior guard Khalil Alford (Raleigh, NC/Fishburne Military) made the most of his opportunity Wednesday night, rescuing the Broncs from the evil days of a 3-9 start.
Alford compiled his first career 'double-double' with 15 points and 10 rebounds. “I needed to step up,” said Alford, a veteran of 102 games. “I had to bring something to the table with us being short-handed. I am ready to do that.”
“Alf can do a lot of things,” Baggett said of Alford. “We trust him. He can rebound, he can guard, he can score inside and out. I know when we need a guy off the bench who can do a lot of things, he's one of those guys.”
Alford made four foul shots to give Rider a 62-57 lead and regulation ended in a 62-62 tie on a three-point field goal from Jason Dunne with 2.7 seconds left in regulation. The three-pointer was Dunne's only points of the game.
Rider (4-9) junior Kahlil Thomas (Parkway, Fla./Blanche Ely) compiled his third straight 'double-double' finishing with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. “We could have folded a few times this season and a few times tonight,” Thomas said, “but we battled.”
Thomas had eight points and seven rebounds in overtime, including a lay-up with 1:11 left in the first overtime to tie the score at 67-67, causing a second overtime.
Rider trailed 74-70 before junior Xavier Lundy (Paulsboro, NJ/Paulsboro) came back into the game after Alford fouled out and made a field goal and a three-pointer to give Rider a 75-74 lead with 1:55 left. That was the seventh and final lead change. “X came in and hit some big baskets,” Baggett said. “Give him credit for that big tip-in and the three. We certainly needed that.”
Lundy finished with nine points.
Many nutritionists feel too many pancakes can be bad for you.
Wednesday night, the Rider men's basketball team had too much of Pancake Thomas. Thomas, a transfer from New Mexico, compiled 35 points and 17 rebounds to lead Hartford (5-9).
Despite being just one for eight from the field at the time, junior Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) nailed a three-point field goal with 2:35 left in the second half to give Rider its first lead, 58-57. Taylor finished with six points and seven rebounds.
Rider out-scored Hartford 19-7, 11 points by Okereafor, to cut the Hartford lead to 52-51 with 6:30 left in the second half.
Hartford out-scored Rider 15-3 to start the second half, 10 points by Thomas, to take a 45-32 lead with 15:46 left to play.
Rider used a 15-5 run, six points by Thomas and four by Alford, to tie the score at 27-27 with 2:21 left in the first half, and Hartford led 30-29 at the half.
Hartford jumped out to a 10-2 lead, five points by Thomas, and the Hawks led 22-12 mid-way through the first half on nine points by Thomas.
The game was the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Broncs. Rider returns to MAAC play with a trip to Quinnipiac Monday, January 4.
Happy New Year.
-ru-
