GREENSBORO, NC – Kahlil Thomas' (Parkway, FL/Blanche Ely) putback with 8.3 seconds remaining gave the Rider University men's basketball team a 60-59 road win in the Gotham Classic at North Carolina A&T Sunday afternoon at the Corbett Sports Center. The win, the Broncs' fifth in a row, pushes Rider to 8-3 on the season. The Aggies slip to 1-10 with the loss. Rider erased a 13-point deficit with a 17-2 second-half run. 

Thomas finished with a game-high 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Jimmie Taylor (Branford, FL/Suwannee) added nine of his 10 points in the second half, signifying the senior's eighth double-digit output in the last nine. Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) added eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals for his fifth-straight game with six assists or more. He's averaging 7.8 dimes per contest in the span. Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) contributed nine points and seven rebounds, while Xavier Lundy (Paulsboro, NJ/Paulsboro) and Norville Carey (British Virgin Islands/Red Lion Christian [Southern Miss]) chipped in with seven points apiece. 

Eliel Gonzalez led North Carolina A&T with 16 points and four assists, while Nick Reese added nine points and seven rebounds. Aaron Scales also had eight points and seven rebounds. 

“Not one of our best performances, but four games in seven days and we found a way to win when didn't play at our best,” said Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett. “We got into some foul trouble, but our guys found a way to win again and persevere like we've done all year long. The seniors led us in the end and Tyere Marshall played well, gave us some good minutes.”

Following three lead changes and seven ties, North Carolina A&T outscored Rider, 16-5, over the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 34-27 lead at the break. The Aggies didn't allow Rider a field goal in the final eight minutes of the period. Thomas led seven Broncs in the scoring column with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Lundy added five points, three rebounds and two blocks, while Jordan had four points, three rebounds and three assists. Gonzalez led the Aggies with 10 points and three assists, while Reese added nine points and five rebounds. 

The Aggies extended to a 13-point lead, 48-35, on a McGowens bucket in the paint with 13:38 left. But the Broncs would score 17 of the next 19 points to take a 52-50 lead on contested Marshall baby hook in the lane with 5:12 left. The Aggies tied the game at 52-52 and 54-54, with Marshall converting another bucket in the paint for the Broncs' two points. Taylor hit a jumper in the paint and Carey got inside for two more to make it a 58-54 Rider lead with 2:30 left in regulation. 

“We just started to press those guys to try and force the tempo a little bit,” said Baggett. “We got back in it that way and once we got back in it, we just found a way to win.”

A&T retook the lead, 59-58, as Hunt knocked down a right-wing three with 1:10 left and 15-footer with 26 seconds remaining. On the next Rider possession, Taylor's long two came up short. But Thomas streaked in to pull the ball out of mid-air and lay it in on a reverse for the 60-59 lead with 8.3 seconds left. 

“I just saw an opportunity,” said Thomas. “Nobody was really guarding me at the end, so I just saw an opportunity to get a rebound and put it back up.”

The Aggies got off two shots in the final seconds, but Gonzalez misfired and Thomas rejected Scales' putback attempt.  

“I couldn't let them get the ball up,” said Thomas. “So I just had to snatch it out of his hands.”   

For the game, the Broncs outshot the Aggies, 42.1 percent (24-57) to 37.7 percent (20-53) from the floor. North Carolina A&T took a 26.7 percent (4-15) to 13.3 percent (2-15) edge from long range and an 88.2 percent (15-17) to 62.5 percent (10-16) advantage from the free-throw line. The Aggies also edged Rider on the glass, 36-35. 

The Broncs wrap up Gotham Classic action Thursday, December 22, when they travel to Amherst, Mass., to take on the University of Massachusetts. The contest serves as a de facto Gotham Classic championship game as the Broncs and Minutemen are both 3-0 in the tournament. Tipoff from the Mullins Center is slated for 7 p.m.