Men's College Basketball

Rider University 94, Quinnipiac University 83

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ? On the day pitchers and catchers reported to MLB Spring Training, it was the Rider basketball team that won by having more runs.

Rider withstood Quinnipiac runs of 11-2 and 31-12, and the Broncs used runs of 10-5, 14-2, 9-2, 17-4 and 8-0 to win for a fifth straight time.

Sophomore Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) scored 22 points and junior Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU) added 21 points, six assists and six rebounds to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Quinnipiac Thursday evening.

“Awesome game,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett.

With the victory, second place Rider (19-9, 13-4 MAAC) clinches a top-four finish in the regular season.

Taylor was six?of seven from the field, including four for five on three-pointers and made six of seven foul shots. “Guys are finding me when I am open,” said Taylor, who now has 676 points in 59 career games. “The coaches keep telling me to stay aggressive and knock down open shots, so that is what I tried to do.”

“Jimmie has made big shots for us all year long,” Baggett said.

Quinnipiac (14-12, 8-9 MAAC) out-scored Rider 19-6, six points by Zaid Hearst, to cut the Rider lead to 66-59 with 8:21 left to play, and the Bobcats cut the lead to three, 74-71, with 5:43 remaining, but that was as close as they could get. Hearst finished with 15 points and five assists.

“Quinnipiac did a great job coming back,” Baggett said. ?I think we lost some wind in our sails when Matt got hurt.”

Rider's leading scorer (12.5) and rebounder (7.5), senior Matt Lopez (Erial, NJ/Washington Twp.), went down with a knee injury with 9:05 left to play and did not return, finishing with eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of work.

“We had to re-group and we did, we've been resilient all year,” Baggett said.

Holding a three-point lead, Rider went on an 8-0 run, five points by Okereafor, to take an 82-71 lead with 3:36 left to play. “We knew we had to stay together and stay composed (after the Lopez injury),” Okereafor said. “We had to finish the game the right way.”

“Teddy has made winning plays for us all year long,” Baggett said.

Rider made 10 of 12 foul shots in the final 2:22, seven by Okereafor, to preserve the win.

The Broncs used a 17-4 run early in the second half, seven points by Taylor, to take a 58-38 lead with 15:33 remaining.

The Broncs hit three three-pointers, two by Taylor, in a 9-2 run that gave Rider a 35-22 lead with 4:15 left in the first half, and Rider led 41-31 at halftime.? Rider is now 15-2 when leading at halftime.

Rider out-scored Quinnipiac 14-2,six points by senior Junior Fortunat (Montreal, Quebec/Roman Catholic), to take a 26-18 lead with 7:37 left in the first half. Fortunat compiled 10 points in 16 minutes off the bench. “When Matt went down Junior was the next man up and he came in and did the job,” Okereafor said.

Quinnipiac used an 11-2 run, eight points by Ousmane Drame, to take a 16-12 lead with 12:17 left in the first half. Drame finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Rider jumped out to a 10-5 lead, five points by Taylor.

Quinnipiac, the leading rebounding team in the nation (45.5), out-rebounded Rider 38-30, but had 18 turnovers and shot 42 percent from the field.? Rider shot 52 percent from the field and is now 8-0 when shooting 50 percent or better.

Earlier this year Rider defeated Quinnipiac 56-53 in Hamden, CT?on January 15. On Thursday the second half alone was 53-52 Rider. “I was not expecting this amount of scoring tonight,” Baggett said. “I was expecting a grind. We played well.”

Rider is now 3-1 against the Bobcats since Quinnipiac joined the MAAC.

February 19 begins the Chinese Year of the Goat, or Ram, or Sheep, depending on your translator. The Chinese regard sheep as auspicious, therefore the year ahead will be one of promise and prosperity.

If recent play is any indicator, Rider basketball fans feel this could be the Year of the Bronc. Rider has now won 13 MAAC games in a season five times. Rider has never won 14.

Rider has won nine of its last 11 games and 17 of the last 21.”We're just clicking right now,” Baggett said.

The Year of the Bronc, one of promise and prosperity on the basketball court.

Rider returns to Alumni Gym to host Niagara Saturday afternoon at 2pm.

-ru-