PROVIDENCE, RI – Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) scored 21 of his career-high 28 points in the second half as the Rider University men's basketball team erased a 14-point first-half deficit, but the Broncs fell at Providence, 88-84, Wednesday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The loss snaps the Broncs' (5-2) four-game winning streak. The Friars, who received votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, improve to 6-1.

The Broncs hung with the Friars early and led twice in the opening eight-plus minutes. But a 13-2 Providence spurt, culminating with just over four minutes left in the half created separation. Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) knocked down a three with seven seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to 10 at the half.

Rider immediately cut the Friars' lead to five on a Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]) three-pointer and an Anthony Durham (Philadelphia, PA/Abington [Putnam Science]) jumper to open the second half. Later in the period, the Broncs retook the lead on a 10-2 spurt, including a three-point play from Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science), a fast-break lay-up from Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Calloway) and a jumper and three-pointer consecutively from Allen.

The lead exchanged hands three more times, with the Broncs taking it for the last time on Allen's fast-break lay-up at the 5:43 mark. But Providence used a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Rider cut the deficit all the way down to one with two Jordan free-throws with 28 seconds left and had a shot to tie it, but Jordan's three-point attempt with 16 seconds left wouldn't fall.

Quotes & Notes
"It's not a bad shot, but we could've gotten a better one. We were trying to execute a little better. But at the end of the day, I'm going to live and die with Stevie and some of these other guys that I trust to take the shot. Stevie's made big shots for us."
 
"I'm encouraged by our guys. If there's one thing that I've come to learn about this team, it's that they're going to compete, they're going to battle night in and night out, regardless of what name is on the (opponent's) uniform. They did it again today."

"I thought (Providence Head Coach) Ed (Cooley) did a great job with his team. They executed down the stretch. I'm proud of our guys. There's no moral victories, but to come out here and compete, I needed to see that." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett
 
- Rider has now made a field goal in the final seven seconds of the first half in six of seven games this season.
- The Friars took a 4-1 lead in the all-time series against Rider, including the last four since a Rider win in 1945 at the original Boston Garden. All four PC wins have come in Providence.  
- The Broncs are now 1-2 this season when trailing at the half.
- Rider's only two losses this season have come to Big East programs (Xavier, Nov. 13).

Broncs by the Numbers
-  Allen scored in double-digits for the seventh-straight game to open his collegiate career with a career-high 28 tonight. He has also buried at least three three-point field goals in each of the seven games, knocking down 5-of-10 tonight.
- Allen scored his 21 second-half points on 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from long range.
- Scott added his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
- Jordan narrowly missed his second-straight double-double with 19 points and nine assists. He also made a team-high three steals.
- Marshall scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds before fouling out just under the four-minute mark of the second half. He made 6-of-8 field-goal attempts and all four of his free-throw attempts a year after hitting at just 36.4 percent (16-44) from the charity stripe. He's made one fewer from the line in just half the attempts (68.2 percent (15-22)) so far in 2017-18.
- Rider narrowly outshot and outrebounded Providence, 46.0 percent (29-63) to 45.9 percent (28-61) and 38-37, respectively.
- The Broncs shot season highs from long range (47.4 percent (9-19)) and the free-throw line (94.4 percent (17-18)).  
- Rider scored 50 or more points in the second half for the fifth time in seven games this season with 53 tonight.
- Rider turned the ball over a season-high 21 times, while dishing out 13 assists, marking the first time this year that the Broncs had more turnovers than assists. For the season, Rider now has 103 assists and just 84 turnovers for a 1.23 team assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Rider turned the ball over just three times in the final 17 minutes.