GAME 12 – Thursday, December 22, 2016
Rider Broncs (8-3, 1-1 MAAC) at Massachusetts Minutemen (8-3, 0-0 A-10)
Location: Amherst, MA – Mullins Center
Tip: 7 p.m.
- Rider and UMass are meeting for the ninth time, with the Minutemen leading the series, 8-0. The last meeting came on Nov. 12, 2010 - a 77-67 UMass win.
- Rider has won five-straight games over Siena, Pacific, Kennesaw State, Drexel and North Carolina A&T. Three of the wins have come by three points or less.
- The Minutemen are also 8-3 with a 4-0 record against common opponents. UMass has won its last two against Kennesaw State and North Carolina A&T.
- With both teams 3-0 against the tournament field, Thursday's contest serves as a de facto championship game of the Gotham Classic.
- Rider is 6-0 when holding the opposition to fewer than 70 points.
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Stevie Jordan scored a career-high 26 points against Drexel and has dished out 7.8 assists per game over his last five, including 12 against Kennesaw State, tied for the most by a Bronc in at least 21 seasons. Jordan earned MAAC Rookie of the Week for the week of Dec. 12-18.
- Rider is 4-1 this season in games decided by five or fewer points and 4-0 in games decided by three or fewer.
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Kahlil Thomas has posted five double-doubles on the year, including an 11-point, 10-rebound effort against Drexel.
- Rider started the season 2-0 with wins at Hampton and Hartford. It was just the program's third 2-0 start in the last 42 years (2003-04, 2009-10) and the first since the Broncs defeated Mississippi State and Lehigh to begin the 2009-10 season.
- The Broncs are led by fifth-year Head Coach
Kevin Baggett, whose teams have posted a 74-67 record and reached the MAAC Quarterfinals in each of his first four seasons in Lawrenceville. Baggett was the 2015 MAAC Coach of the Year.
