Men's College Basketball
Broncs Host Canisius Sunday 1pm
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—The Rider University men's basketball team, winner of four of its last five games, will host Canisius College in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference contest Sunday at 1pm.
At halftime of the game 255 varsity athletes and cheerleaders will be honored for their high grade point averages as part of Academic Achievement Day.
Rider (8-13, 4-6 MAAC) has not only won four of its last five but has won its last two games by a total of 54 points.
Rider is coming off a 31-point win at second place Saint Peter's on Thursday. In that game Xavier Lundy came in off the bench early in the first half and scored 18 points in just 19 minutes of action. Lundy scored 12 points as Rider jumped out to a 30-10 lead.
Canisius (10-12, 5-6 MAAC) lost at Fairfield 84-77 Friday night. In that game Canisius jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Fairfield took a 72-69 lead with 2:11 left to play and never trailed again. Kevin Bleeker scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Canisius.
The Golden Griffins won three in a row on the road (Manhattan, Quinnipiac, Niagara) before losing at home to Siena January 24. The Griffs are led by senior guard Malcom McMillan and junior forward Phil Valenti, who combine to score over 30 points per game. McMillian compiled 15 points (11 free throws) and 10 rebounds at Fairfield Friday. Valenti scored 17 points Friday and is also grabbing 6.0 rebounds per game.
Rider won both meetings with Canisius last year, 60-59 in Buffalo in February and 59-46 in Lawrenceville in January. In the game in Buffalo Teddy Okereafor scored 15 points, including two foul shots with 6.7 seconds left for a 60-56 lead. Okereafor also made a three-pointer that gave Rider a 58-52 lead with 31 seconds left. The Golden Griffins came to Lawrenceville on a three-game winning streak and lost 59-46 when they shot just 29 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers. In that game the Broncs had four players score in double figures.
Rider lost twice to Canisius in 2013-14. Since joining the MAAC Rider is 30-10 against Canisius, which includes 3-1 in postseason play. The overall series began in 1929-30 and Rider has won 32 of the 42 meetings.
Rider travels to Manhattan College Tuesday night.
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