Box Score LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Five Broncs finished in double figures as the Rider University men's basketball team cruised past Siena, 97-71, Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium for its ninth-straight victory. With the win, the Broncs improve to 20-7 (13-2 MAAC), while the Saints fall to 8-20 (4-11 MAAC).

The Broncs trailed only briefly in the opening two minutes before quickly building a double-digit lead less than seven minutes in. The Saints would cut the Rider lead to two with an 8-0 run, but the Broncs methodically built the lead back up to as many as 13 in the first half and held at 50-38 lead at the break. Rider shot a first-half season-high 59.5 percent (22-37), its third-highest percentage in a single half this season.

The Saints would whittle the Broncs' lead down to eight with 12:33 remaining in regulation. But Rider went on a 13-0 run to remove all doubt. The closest Siena would draw the rest of the way was to within 16 and Rider's lead eventually grew to the final 26-point margin.  

Quotes & Notes
"That was a good win by all of our guys. I thank our crowd, which was unbelievable tonight. We fed off of them. I thought we did a good job from start-to-finish. We initiated the tempo. We've been allowing teams to throw the first punch at us. Tonight, I thought we threw the first punch and kept throwing."

"This is a confident group and they know what's at stake. They were locked in for this game."

"In the past, we might've had two or three guys who could score and we had to rely on defending a great deal. And we still get out there and talk about defense all the time. That's still our focus. But yet we still have enough guys to be able to defend and obviously score. 71 points is still a good job by us."

[On Sunday's game with Canisius] "I give Reggie Witherspoon a great deal of credit. No one saw either one of our teams at the top of the league. And we're excited to be in this position to play those guys on Sunday. We're going to go back, get ready tomorrow and Saturday and take our chances on Sunday."

[On winning 20 games] "It means that we've had a good year. Our ultimate goal at the end of the day is to win the league, get to the NCAA Tournament. We'll reflect back on the wins, if that happens. But right now, we're just in the moment, game to game. Now we're on to the next game. It's nice, it's good. But we've got bigger fish to fry than that." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"I think we have a lot of scorers and people who love to play the fast-paced game. Coach Baggs always tells us to run."

"I think we're more locked in when we go full-court press because everybody's giving energy to get a steal because everybody wants the ball back."

[On Joe Ajike getting into the game and scoring five points late] "It feels great for me, even watching him get the opportunity to even step on the court. Because I remember last year, he was a manager. It boosts the morale of the team, Joe getting in the game and scoring. We love it."

"There's no pressure. We've just got to keep coming out every night and giving the same energy and keep winning games." – Rider sophomore point guard Stevie Jordan

- Rider cut Siena's lead in the all-time series to 31-17.
- Rider's nine-game winning streak is its longest since a 10-game streak in 2007-08.
- Rider's streak is now the fourth-longest active streak behind Rhode Island (16), Vermont (15) and Grambling (10). Michigan State, Xavier, Savannah State and College of Charleston also currently have nine-game winning streaks. 
- Rider has had only five streaks of nine wins or more in its 90-year history. It's longest winning streak in program history is 16, established in the third year of its existence, 1930-31.
- This is Rider's 10^th 20-win season in its 90-year men's basketball history and the second under Baggett (21-12 in 2014-15).
- The Broncs' 13-2 mark in league play is its fastest to 13 league wins. Rider's best 18-game league slates have been 13-5 marks in 2001-02, 2004-05, 2007-08 and 2010-11. In a 20-game MAAC schedule in 2014-15, Rider also was 13-5 through 18 league games en route to a program-record 15 MAAC wins (15-5).    
- Rider entered the game at No. 67 in the RPI. Its highest RPI ranking of the season was No. 62.
- Rider returns to action Sunday, when it plays host to Canisius. The Golden Griffins took the league opener for both teams, 77-76, on Dec. 29 in Buffalo. Tip-off from Alumni Gymnasium is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider shot a season-high 57.4 percent (39-68) from the floor.
- Rider's 50 points in the first half matched their season high in the opening stanza this season (Jan. 5 vs. Fairfield).
- Rider has now scored 90 or more points nine times this season and is 9-0 when doing so.
- The Broncs shot 59.5 percent (22-37) in the first half, their highest percentage in the first half this season and their third-highest percentage in a single half this year (68.0 percent, 2^nd half against Hampton; 64.9 percent, 2^nd half at Manhattan).
- Rider used a 13-0 run in the second half to expand its lead to 21.
- Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Calloway) led the Broncs with a team-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds.
- Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) added 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. He moved into a tie for 11^th in program history in assists with his 316^th dime, tying Barry Spears and Terrance Mouton.
- Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]) scored 14 points on 6-for-6 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from long range.
- Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) tied Scott for the team lead with his sixth double-double of the year, compiling 12 points and 11 rebounds.
- Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) also finished in double figures with 12 points.
- Joe Ajike (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West), a three-year student manager who walked onto the team as a senior this year, connected on 2-of-3 field-goal attempts, the first two conversions from the floor in his career, for five points.
- Rider outscored Siena, 52-22, in the paint and has now outscored its league foes, 606-401, in the paint on the season.
- For the second-straight game, Rider committed fewer than 10 turnovers with nine tonight.