UNCASVILLE, CT – The Rider University men's basketball team used a 17-0 second-half run to erase a double-digit second-half deficit and defeat Vermont, 72-67, in the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament presented by Citi Springfield Bracket Championship Game Sunday night. With the win, the Broncs improve to 4-2, while the Catamounts fall to 5-2. Vermont's only other loss to date was a six-point setback to then-No. 9 Virginia.

After Vermont built a seven-point lead less than seven minutes into regulation, the Broncs battled back to tie the game at 18-18, 21-21 and 23-23, on the strength of three-pointers from Willy Nuñez, Jr. (Orlando, FL/Oak Ridge [Florida International]), Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, NJ/Conwell-Egan/API) and Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]). But the Catamounts closed the opening 20 minutes on a 13-2 run to build a 41-29 advantage at the break.

A night after closing out Columbia with a 25-0 run to end the game, Rider outscored Vermont, 22-2 to open the second half, including a 17-0 run to build a 51-43 lead by the 11:33 mark. Scott and Jordan each had nine points in the run, with Scott scoring the first five and Jordan hitting three trifectas in the final 11 points.

The lead swelled to 11 on three occasions. Vermont whittled the Broncs' lead down to five on three occasions in the final minute of regulation, but could draw no closer.

Quotes & Notes
(On 2^nd Half Adjustments) "Just locking down more. Our guys understanding in the locker room what it was going to take to win this game. It starts with Lamb on their team. They're well-coached. They're very good. I could see those guys being in the NCAA Tournament. But our guys just locked in more. We didn't overhelp on shooters. We made the guys finish who needed to finish and we got the big rebounds. We went inside, we opened the court up and we just tried to continue to go inside and go at these guys and still just go downhill on them and put pressure on these guys to have to defend us just as much."

(On Tyere Marshall) "Night in and night out, we're going to have different guys who can score the ball. We knew they were going to pay a lot of attention to Tyere. He's done a great job of late and all year for that matter. We just asked him to be patient, find the open guys, face up on the double teams and move the ball and then repost and go to the glass and continue to rebound. That's something that he's done all year for us. If they're not going to allow you to score and get to the basket, rebound offensively and defensively for us."

"We talked at the beginning of the game about, 'what's our identity. Can we be a team that can guard and offensively score.' We established our identity tonight. We're not the team last year that relied on scoring and, if we were able to make stops here and there, then we could win games. This year is a different thing."

"We stayed out of foul trouble in the second half. And I just thought guys locked down and guarded and we made everything tough for Lamb tonight. He's a heck of a player. Well-coached team. Very good Vermont team. They pushed us to the limit, but our guys responded." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The meeting was the first-ever between Rider and Vermont.
- Scott and Jordan were named to the all-tournament team.   
- KenPom.com ranked Vermont No. 68 in NCAA Division I entering the game.
- Rider wrapped up a stretch of six-straight games away from home to begin the season. The Broncs return to action Tues., Dec. 3 at home against Bucknell. Tip-off from Alumni Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 p.m.  
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Vermont built its first-half lead in large part thanks to 53.6 percent (15-28) shooting. The Broncs countered by shooting 37.9 percent (11-29).
- A night after holding Columbia to 22.0 percent (9-41) shooting in the second half, Rider limited Vermont to 23.1 percent (9-39) in the final 20 minutes. Rider outdid itself tonight, shooting 58.3 percent (14-24) in the second half to the 53.1 percent (17-32) it shot against Columbia last night.
- Scott matched his career high with 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds, one off his career high. He did hit damage on 9-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long range. Five of his 13 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
- Jordan added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. He hit 6-of-10 attempts, including 4-of-6 from long range, and played the full 40 minutes.
- Rider held 2019 America East Player of the Year and Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List honoree Anthony Lamb to 4-of-19 shooting for the game, including 3-of-12 from long range. In the second half, Lamb connected on just 1-of-13 attempts, and didn't make a three-pointer on seven attempts.
- Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) added 10 points and seven rebounds.
- Nuñez and Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School) each added eight points. Vaughn also matched his career high with three blocks.
- Rider committed a season-low nine turnovers.
- Rider outrebounded its sixth-straight opponent to begin the season, taking a 41-35 edge on the glass.
- For the game, Rider shot 47.2 percent (25-53) to Vermont's 35.8 percent (24-67). The Broncs are now 4-0 this season when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent and 0-2 when shooting a lower percentage.