Men's College Basketball

Fairfield University 69, Rider University 64

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ— On this date in 1909, Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, planted a flag 97 nautical miles from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.

On Saturday, the Rider basketball season continued to go south, as the Broncs fell to 0-5 in the conference.

“We keep finding ways to lose games,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett. “Breakdowns defensively and not executing the right way down the stretch.”

Sophomore guard Tyler Nelson scored 20 points to lead Fairfield to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Rider Saturday evening.

Fairfield senior forward Marcus Gilbert made a three point field goal with 42 seconds left to give the Stags a 65-62. “We broke down at the end, a defender fell down, and we gave up a three to Gilbert,” Baggett said.  “That was a big play in the game after we fought our way back.”

Gilbert finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Nelson made two foul shots with 16.1 seconds left to give Fairfield (8-7, 2-3 MAAC) a 67-64 lead.

In a Shakespeare play Scottish witches incant 'Double, double, toil and trouble,' trying to pile up toil and trouble for Macbeth with their spell.

Saturday night junior Kahlil Thomas (Parkway, Fla./Blanche Ely) caused much toil and trouble for the Stags, compiling his fifth 'double-double' in the last six games by piling up 18 points and 13 rebounds.  It was not enough, however, to put a spell on Fairfield.

“We need more discipline,” said Thomas, who converted a three-point play with 1:01 remaining to tie the score at 62-62, and made a tip in to cut the Fairfield lead to 65-64 with 20.2 seconds left.

“Lilly (Thomas) has been playing well,” Baggett said.  “He's done some really good things for us. I'm happy for him in how he is playing. He's playing the way we thought he would last year before he got hurt.”

“I'm just trying to post hard, get it and go up with it,” Thomas said.  “I'm just trying to do my best to do whatever it takes to win.”

Trailing 57-46, Rider (4-12, 0-5 MAAC) out-scored Fairfield 13-3, five points by junior Xavier Lundy (Paulsboro, NJ/Paulsboro) and four by Thomas, to cut the Stag lead to 60-59 with 3:29 left to play. Lundy finished with 12 points.

Holding a 40-38 lead, Fairfield went on a 12-5 run, seven points by Nelson, to take a 52-43 lead with 13:48 left to play.

Trailing 19-16, Fairfield out-scored Rider 15-6, nine points by Jerry Johnson Jr., to take a 31-25 lead, and Fairfield led 38-36 at the half.

Rider out-rebounded Fairfield 51-35, but made just four of 19 three-pointers and six of 12 foul shots. “Our guys did a great job going to the glass,” Baggett said, “but we're not making threes or foul shots.”

Fairfield made seven of 20 three-pointers and 14 of 18 foul shots.

Also for Rider, graduate student Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU) compiled 14 points and six rebounds, while junior Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Rider and Fairfield played in Bridgeport, Connecticut on December 4, with the Stags winning 74-70.

The 0-5 start in MAAC play is the worst since Rider began the 2005-06 season 0-6 against conference teams. “We need to find a way to win one,” Baggett said. “We're in games, we're right there down the stretch. We just keep finding ways to shoot ourselves in the foot. I trust our guys can find a way to get it done.”

Rider hosts Marist for an ESPN3 game Thursday.

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