Men's College Basketball

Marist College 71, Rider University 58

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY-- One of Poughkeepsie's more famous residents was Fr. James LeBar, a Roman Catholic priest who was the chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of New York in the 1990s.

On Tuesday night in Poughkeepsie, the same demons that caused Rider to lose four of its last five games were on display again.

“We had too many breakdowns defensively, we had a lack of communication on defense, we missed as many foul shots as we made, the same problems that have bothered us all year are the same things that are occurring now,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett.

The Broncs shot just 35 percent from the field and lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Marist Tuesday evening in snowy Poughkeepsie.

The win ended Marist's five-game losing streak and was just the second win in the last 18 games for the Red Foxes. “We told the team Marist was going to come into this game desperate,” Baggett said.   

Marist (6-22, 3-16 MAAC) used a 23-10 run, eight points by freshman Kristin Palsson, to take a 60-49 lead with 8:20 remaining. Palsson finished with a career-high 18 points. “He's been averaging double digits the last four games,” Baggett said of the Marist rookie. “He's a good player.”

Trailing 19-17, Rider (11-18, 7-11 MAAC) went on a 14-6 run, five points by junior Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee), to take a 31-25 lead, and the Broncs led 37-33 at the half. Taylor finished with 15 points.

Marist jumped out to a 10-3 lead, six points by Palsson.

The victory for Marist was just the third over Rider in the last 18 meetings. Rider beat Marist in double overtime on January 14 and swept the Red Foxes last year.

The Broncs were playing their second game in a row without senior Zedric Sadler (Detroit, Mich./Cody), who suffered a sprained ankle  in the win over Niagara February 14.“We won without Zed (over Charleston Southern) before,” Baggett said. “I'm not going to make excuses. We have to play with the guys we have in uniform. It is up to them to step up.”

Also for Rider, junior Xavier Lundy (Paulsboro, NJ/Paulsboro) compiled 12 points and seven rebounds, while red-shirt freshman Josh Williams (Trenton, NJ/Notre Dame) scored a career-high six points in eight productive minutes off the bench. “I thought Josh did some good things, I was encouraged to see that,” Baggett said.

Rider graduate student Teddy Okereafor (London, England/VCU) scored just eight points but added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in all 40 minutes.

Rider plays at first-place Monmouth Friday night on ESPN2.  The regular season finale and Senior Day will be Sunday night, February 28, with a 6pm ESPN3 contest with Manhattan.

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