POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Calloway) scored 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, including 15 in a 28-4 Broncs run over the final 6:05 as the Rider University men's basketball team stunned Marist, 89-79, Saturday night at McCann Arena. Rider (19-7, 12-2 MAAC) erased a 21-point deficit over the game's final 10:19 to defeat the Red Foxes (5-21, 3-11 MAAC) and extend its winning streak to eight games.

Marist opened up a 17-point lead in the first half on the strength of 10-of-20 shooting from long range. The Red Foxes' advantage swelled to 21 on three occasions, the last with 10:35 remaining. But a putback slam from Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]) at the 10:19 mark gave the Broncs life. The Broncs cut the deficit to 12 on a Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) three at the 7:10 mark. Two David Knudsen free throws pushed it back to 14 with 6:21 remaining. But Vaughn's two free throws with 6:05 left sparked the decisive 28-4 run, in which the redshirt freshman scored 15 of his points.

Vaughn scored the first six points in the run and had another lay-up sandwiched around Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) buckets. Following a pair of Isaiah Lamb free throws that pushed Marist's lead back to five, 78-73 with 3:41 remaining, Rider scored the next 16 points to put the game away. Vaughn scored the go-ahead three-point play on a second-chance putback with 2:04 remaining. Scott followed with a three-point play of his own and then made a steal and fed Jordan to further cushion the lead. The Rider lead grew to 11 from the free-throw line.  

Quotes & Notes
"We just continued to press. Guys continued to stay together. Guys continued to do whatever it was that we needed to do in order for us to win. Then we started to making some shots and we got into our rhythm. We were kind of playing to their speed and their tempo. Once we were able to set the tempo and get after those guys to force turnovers, then they started to play on their heels and we were the aggressors. And that's why we won the game."

"The one thing that I'm learning and everybody else is learning about our team is that we're resilient and we're going to play until the last seconds on the clock. That's what we did tonight."

"This group's not going to let us quit. And they won't let me quit. They were like, 'Come on, Coach. Keep coaching us.' Not that I wasn't. We stayed on them, they grind, they grind. We just needed to keep the ball in front and stop overhelping and giving up three's. Once we figured that out and once we started to pressure them and take them out of their sets and not allow them to run their offense, it was to our benefit."

"Those guys are unbelievable. I'm telling you, this is a special group. This group is special, man. I have not been part of a comeback like this as a head coach or an assistant." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

[In game, from the bench] "There are 11 minutes left. This game is not over."

"It's just natural. I don't know where it comes from. It's natural. I was born that way, just to be motivated to win. I hate losing. So, whatever I have to do to help us win, that's what I'll do."

"We actually have two fives. We have two sets of five players that could play on the court at certain moments in the game. That's pretty versatile for us to have as a team."

"We weren't efficient in the first half, so we had to clean it up in the second." – Rider redshirt freshman forward Dimencio Vaughn

"Playing hard, that's all. Dimencio stepped up. A whole bunch of people stepped up. I think we should've played with that intensity in the first half."

"I felt like a comeback was possible the whole game. We're going to play until the clock says zero in the second half."

"It looked kind of crazy, but we just had to chip away slowly. And that's what we did." – Rider sophomore point guard Stevie Jordan

- Rider now leads the all-time series with Marist, 34-24, including the last four.
- Rider's eight-game winning streak is its longest since a 10-game streak in 2007-08.
- The Broncs' 12-2 mark in league play eclipses the 2007-08 squad (11-3) for the best 14-game start to MAAC play in Rider's 21 years in the league.   
- Rider entered the game with its highest RPI ranking of the season at No. 62.
- Rider returns to action Thursday, when it plays host to Siena for the only meeting of the regular season between the two teams. Tip-off from Alumni Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Broncs by the Numbers
- After scoring 27 points in the first half, Rider scored a single-half season-high 62 points in the second half.
- A well-documented 60.7 percent free-throw shooting team entering the game, Rider made 74.1 percent (20-27) from the line on the night, including 85.0 percent (17-20) in the second half.
- Vaughn grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, for his third double-double of the season.
- Jordan tied his season-high of 19 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. This is the fifth time this season he's scored 19 (Hartford, Providence, Hofstra, Wagner).
- Jordan moved past Marcus Pryor on the Rider all-time assists list, now standing at 310.
- Scott narrowly missed his seventh double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
- Allen also scored in double figures with all 11 of his points in the second half.
- The Broncs outscored Marist, 50-26, in the paint and have now outscored its league foes, 554-379, this season in the paint.
- Rider forced 26 Marist turnovers, while committing just seven itself, resulting in a 36-5 edge in points off turnovers.
- Rider also outscored the Red Foxes, 20-4, on second chances.
- Tonight's game marked the third time in the eight-game winning streak that the Broncs have led for 2:04 or less in the second half.