BRIDGEPORT, CT – Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Calloway) punctuated his double-double and the Broncs' 8-0 run to end the game with a tip-in with 8.5 seconds left as the Rider University men's basketball team clipped Fairfield, 90-88, Tuesday night at Webster Bank Arena. Vaughn led Rider (14-7, 7-2 MAAC) with 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Fairfield slips to 7-12 (2-6 MAAC) with the loss.

A first half that featured six lead changes and three ties ended with Rider leading, 45-42, on the strength of 10 points from Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API). Fairfield scored the first six points of the second half to establish a lead. And though Rider tied the game seven times and reclaimed the lead twice, it possessed the advantage for a total of just 23 seconds in the second half after the Stags tied the game 32 seconds into the period and prior to Vaughn's decisive putback.

Fairfield had an opportunity to tie the game with one second remaining in regulation, with MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Nelson drawing a foul to earn two free throw attempts. But Nelson, who'd buried his prior 34 attempts from the line, missed the front end. He intentionally misfired on the second and Vaughn secured the rebound and the victory.  

Quotes & Notes
"It was a gut-wrenching nail-biter. Find a way to win, even though you're struggling. Even though we struggled defensively, I thought guys just kept going at it and battling and battling. And every time they got a six or seven-point lead, we found our way back into it."

"He's quick off his feet. Dimencio, he's good. We've got to keep him out of foul trouble. We asked him to guard Nelson. Nelson did a good job trying to force him into some screens and Nelson draws some fouls too. Give him credit for that and I thought Dimencio picked up two because of that. But, to have him on the court, you know he's going to get to the glass. He's known for putbacks. We tried to isolate and post him up late because we knew he was the one who could finish and make some free throws, which he did. He came through for us again."  – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"I just saw Tyere struggling to try to get the ball in the basket. But I was right behind him and we kept tapping the ball and I just happened to jump one more time and tap it toward the basket instead of away from the basket and it just dropped. I was just thankful for it to go in." – Rider redshirt freshman Dimencio Vaughn
 
- Rider cut Fairfield's lead in the all-time series to 34-30, including a regular-season sweep.
- The Broncs reach the midpoint of the MAAC slate at 7-2, with six of their final nine games of the regular season to be played at home.
- Rider returns to action Friday, when it plays host to Saint Peter's at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and fans are encouraged to wear cranberry as part of the Broncs Zoo #CranOut.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider led for a total of 62 seconds in the second half.
- Anthony Durham (Philadelphia, PA/Abington/Putnam Science) (6-6 FG, 1-1 3ptFG) and Devine Eke (Plainfield, NJ/Union Catholic [Maine]) (4-4 FG, 1-1 3ptFG) didn't miss a field-goal attempt in the game.
- Rider shot 51.6 percent (33-64) from the floor, it's fifth shooting performance of 50 percent or better in nine league games.
- With a 42-32 edge in points in the paint, Rider has now outscored its opponent in the paint in 8-of-9 league games.
- Joining Vaughn in double figures were Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) and Jordan with 17 points each and Durham with 15. Eke also added nine points.
- Jordan dished out a team-high five assists.