LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) and Frederick Scott (Munster, IN/Simeon [DePaul]) each posted double-doubles, but the Rider University men's basketball team fell to Iona, 86-79, Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium. With the loss, the Broncs slip to 15-14 (10-7 MAAC), while the Gaels clinched at least a share of the conference championship, finishing the regular season at 14-15 (12-6 MAAC).

The Broncs used an early 11-0 run to turn a 12-9 deficit into a 20-12 lead at the 11:34 mark. Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School) started the run with a three-pointer, before Scott converted consecutive buckets inside, completing a conventional three-point play on the second. Anthony Durham's (Philadelphia, PA/Abington/Putnam Science) three-pointer capped the run. But Iona whittled away at the lead and used an 11-2 spurt near the end of the period to take a 41-35 lead into the halftime break.

Iona continued its momentum into the second half, starting the period on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 14. The advantage continued to grow to as many as 25 on E.J. Crawford's fast-break bucket at the 10:19 mark. Rider responded with a 12-2 run to cut Iona's lead to 15 and gradually cut it to as few as six points on consecutive Jordan Allen (Dover, DE/Dover) three-pointers in the final minute of regulation. But the Gaels held on for the seven-point victory.

Quotes & Notes
"Struggled to play well. Give those guys credit. They came in and punched us in the mouth and we weren't ready for it. Finally, when we got off our heels and started to go back at them, we tried to make it a game. But it's just tough when you get down by that much."

"I'm disappointed. We didn't look like the team that had been building and playing well of late." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"This was my last game here and I wanted to go out on top. But I just walked into the locker room and told them, 'we're going to see them in the tournament, so that should be everybody's main focus – take care of business Sunday and then move on to the tournament.' I'd be fine with losing this game if I could win the championship. That's the main thing on everybody's mind right now. Don't look past Sunday, play Sunday, and then get ready for the tournament." – Rider senior guard Anthony Durham

- The game was the 65^th meeting in the all-time series with Iona, with the Gaels holding a 39-26 lead. Iona swept the regular-season series with the Broncs.
- At 10-7, the Broncs need a win in Sunday's game at Marist (2 p.m.) to ensure a first-round bye in the MAAC Championships.
- Should Rider find itself in a four-way tie with Quinnipiac, Canisius and Siena at 11-7 for second place, the Broncs would take the No. 4 seed by virtue of a 2-3 mark to the Griffs' 5-1 (#2 seed), Quinnipiac's 2-3 mark (#3 seed, win over would-be top-seeded Iona serves as the tie-breaker), ahead of Siena (#5 seed, 1-3 record against the group).
- A three-way tie with Canisius (3-1 against group) and Siena (1-2 against group) would leave Rider (1-2 against group, head-to-head loss to Siena) last among that group.
- A loss would leave Rider's first-round bye situation murky. The Broncs split with Monmouth, which finished its season at 10-8 tonight with a win over Manhattan. If Iona remains alone in first, Monmouth would take the tie-breaker by virtue of a 1-1 record against the Gaels to the Broncs' 0-2. Should Quinnipiac win its final game, both teams would be 1-3 against the teams tied for the top spot. In that case, a Siena loss would leave Canisius alone at the No. 3 spot and Rider's 1-1 mark against the Griffs would give them the first-round bye over Monmouth's 0-2 mark. However, if Siena wins and is tied with Canisius, the Hawks' season sweep of the Saints would give Monmouth the final first-round bye.  
- Prior to the game, the Broncs honored their two-member senior class of Durham and Karamoko Cisse (Denver, CO/Trinidad St./Gillette College) on Senior Night.  
- Rider trailed at the half for the ninth time in league play. It is 4-5 when trailing at the half against league foes.  
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Scott's third double-double of the year ties him with Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) for the team lead. He had a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four assists, a block and a steal.
- Jordan scored 16 points and matched his season high with 10 assists, to go along with six rebounds and three steals.
- Durham (12 points) and Devine Eke (Plainfield, NJ/Union Catholic [Maine]) (11 points) also finished in double figures for the Broncs. Durham hit 5-of-9 attempts from the floor, while Eke made 5-of-6.
- Allen finished with nine points on 3-of-8 from long range. It was the 29^th time in 61 games played that he's made at least three three-point field goals in a single game.
- The Gaels outshot the Broncs, 48.3 percent (29-60) to 43.8 percent (32-73) from the floor. Rider took a slight 41.7 percent (10-24) to 40.0 percent (12-30) edge from long range.
- The Broncs outrebounded Iona, 42-40, including a 14-8 edge on the offensive glass.
- A game after distributing a season-high 25 assists, the Broncs had 24 dimes tonight.
- Entering the game eighth in the nation in steals per game (9.3 spg.), Rider made seven steals tonight.  
- Jordan's three steals move him past Jonathon Thompson '13 alone into eighth all-time at Rider with 141 for his career. Next on the list is Lee Nesmith '88 with 147.  
- Rider outscored Iona, 40-30, in the paint, marking the 14^th time in 17 league games that it's outscored its opponent in the paint. The Broncs have now outscored league foes, 654-532, in the paint for an average of +7.2 points per game.