WASHINGTON, DC – Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]) posted his second double-double of the year and scored the game-winning bucket with 36.5 seconds remaining as the Rider University men's basketball team defeated George Washington, 67-65, in a Las Vegas Classic game Monday night at the Charles E. Smith Center. With the win, the Broncs' first over an Atlantic 10 program since a Dec. 22, 2010, victory at La Salle, Rider improves to 3-1. George Washington is now 2-2. Scott finished with 16 of his 17 points in the second half to go along with 10 rebounds.
 
George Washington looked to be pulling away twice in the game with a seven-point lead seven minutes in and again with 9:24 left in regulation. But both times, the Broncs went on a run to take the lead back. The first half 9-0 run consisted of four points from Karamoko Cisse (Denver, CO/Gillette College/Trinidad St.), a Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) three-pointer while being fouled and a Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Calloway) spin move and lay-up.
 
In the second-half run, which wrapped up at 11-1, Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) and Scott knocked down consecutive three-pointers, before Allen's putback and another three-pointer gave the Broncs the lead. But George Washington would match the Broncs, three for three, over four-straight possessions. Rider clung to a single-possession lead from the 3:35 mark to the one-minute mark, when Patrick Steeves' jumper tied the game at 65-65.

With the shot clock running down on the Broncs' next possession, Scott drove hard through the lane and laid it in with 36.5 seconds left. Jordan forced a Steeves turnover on the next George Washington possession and Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) was fouled with Rider in the bonus and seven seconds remaining. Marshall's front end wouldn't fall, but neither would Jair Bolden's three-point attempt at the buzzer as Rider came away with the victory.
 
Quotes & Notes
"It's a big win for us. It's a big win for our psyche, understanding that we can come and compete with an Atlantic 10 team like GW on the road with the crowd against us and some adversity, here and there, on the court. We've got tough guys and they compete. We've got depth. We've got a number of guys who I didn't even get a chance to play as many minutes. We played nine guys double digits (minutes). Guys play together. They enjoy playing with one another. We take care of the ball. We defend. We're getting better on that end and it's fun to watch."
 
"We just knew we needed to stick together. A young group can splinter and start pointing fingers at one another. They didn't do that at all. We stayed together. Guys came into the huddle and we talked it out, what needed to be done. We needed to rebound. We were giving up too many second-chance opportunities."
 
"I just keep yelling at (Scott). 'Be aggressive. Go after guys. If you run them over, run them over. Just lower your head and go at them. You're a talented player.' Once he's had a little bit of success, he's just started to build some momentum and it helped with Jordan (Allen) being able to make a couple shots and then space the court where they couldn't dig down on Freddy and help on some of his drives. And then Stevie was doing a good job of getting into the lane and creating as well. So it really started to open up some things for us, especially for Freddy." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett
 
"My coaches just told me, 'go. Don't worry about the score. Just be ready and stay aggressive.'"
 
"I just decided to stay aggressive. I knew my team needed me. It was open, so I just took it."
 
"I knew I could do better. This still, I didn't feel, was my best game. I just wanted to win for my team. That's what we did." – Redshirt freshman forward Frederick Scott
 
- The win was Rider's first over an Atlantic 10 team since defeating La Salle on Dec. 22, 2010.
- Rider took a 3-2 lead in the all-time series. The two teams met three times in the 1930's and again in the 1971-72 season. George Washington had won the last two.
- The Broncs played to a tie score at the half for the third time in four games this season. Rider has won all three games when tied at the break.
- Rider had more assists (14) than turnovers (eight) for the fourth-straight game.
- Vaughn made his season debut and returned to the court for the first time since a season-ending knee injury last Dec. 14.
- Scott's second double-double pulled him into a tie with Marshall for the team lead.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
-  Allen (15) and Jordan (12) also finished in double-figures scoring. Allen scored 11 of his points in the second half, including 3-of-4 shooting from long range.
- Rider attempted a season-low 21 three-point field goals, making six.
- Both teams made 27 field goals and seven free throws, but Rider was able to create eight more field-goal attempts through four more offensive rebounds than the Colonials and three fewer turnovers. The Broncs also made two more three-pointers than George Washington.
- Rider's bench outscored that of George Washington, 24-12, led by Jordan's 12 points, six from Cisse and four more from Vaughn.
- For the season, Rider now has 60 assists and just 40 turnovers for a 1.50 team assist-to-turnover ratio. Jordan leads the group with a 3.63 assist-to-turnover ratio.