LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Tyere Marshall (Philadelphia, PA/Martin Luther King/Putnam Science) scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, but the Rider University men's basketball team fell to Iona, 69-66, Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 8-6 (2-2 MAAC), while the Gaels are now 3-7 (1-2 MAAC).

The Broncs established an early 20-10 lead by the 9:24 mark of the first half on the strength of eight points from Marshall. But went cold the rest of the half and Iona gradually whittled away at the lead until tying the game on a pair of Asante Gist free throws in the final seconds of the period.

Iona built a nine-point lead by the 13:21 mark of the second half on an Isaiah Washington three-pointer, before Rider began to chip away. The Broncs scored six-straight to make it a one-possession game at the nine-minute mark and took the lead on a Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School) putback of his own miss with 4:09 remaining. Following a Tajuan Agee field goal on Iona's next possession, Christian Ings (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) knocked down a three with 3:15 remaining to give Rider a 61-59 lead.

But Iona would score the next seven points, the last five from Washington, and held on for the victory.  

Quotes & Notes
"Struggled to get stops today. Mentally, we had too many breakdowns. And when it all comes down to one-on-one, you've got to be able to keep your man in front. That's our problem." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"We've just got to practice and get better. I feel like we gave up too many 50-50 balls, too many offensive rebounds and we've got to make free throws. We do all of those things and we win this game." – Rider Senior Center Tyere Marshall

- Iona leads the all-time series with Rider, 40-26, including the last three meetings.  
- Rider resumes Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action on Sunday, when it travels to Marist at 2 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.       
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Marshall and Vaughn led Rider with seven rebounds apiece.
- Vaughn finished with nine points and four steals.
- Ings scored a season-high 14 points, while tying Stevie Jordan (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan/API) for the team lead with four assists.
- Willy Nuñez, Jr. (Orlando, FL/Oak Ridge [Florida International]) chipped in with nine points on 3-of-9 from long range.
- Rider struggled from the free-throw line, connecting on just 10-of-24 (41.7%).
- Iona outshot Rider, 51.9 percent (27-52) to 45.3 percent (24-53) for the game.
- The Broncs were outrebounded for just the third time this season, with Iona taking a 35-29 advantage.