NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Jaelen McGlone (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) led the Broncs with 11 points and five rebounds, but the Rider University men's basketball team fell at defending MAAC Champion Iona, 80-54, Friday night at the Hynes Athletic Center. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 3-7 (0-1 MAAC), while the Gaels improve to 8-2 (2-0 MAAC).

After the Broncs jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 6-3, Iona used separate runs of 10-0 and 12-0 to build a lead of as many as 21 points on a Colton Cashaw three-point play at the 1:42 mark. Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School [Ole Miss]) and Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) led the Broncs with six points apiece in the first half. The Iona lead would swell to as many as 30 points in the second half.
 
Quotes & Notes
"They kicked our behind at the end of the day. The outphysicaled us. They outrebounded us. They drove it. There was nothing that we did well or right."

"We've got to get back up tomorrow. If you're a basketball player, you get up. You get ready for the next challenge. We don't have enough time to be 'woe is me.' We've got to get ready for Marist, who's good. Marist played (Iona) well the other night. We're at home. Hopefully we can get rested up these next 24 hours and get playing on Sunday and get off this losing streak and get this loss out of our heads pretty quick." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Iona now leads the all-time series with Rider, 44-26.
- The Broncs moved to 6-4 in MAAC openers under 10^th-year Head Coach Kevin Baggett.
- Tonight's game was the Broncs' seventh-straight played away from home, including five true road games and two games on a neutral court in Mexico.
- RJ Weise (Allentown, NJ/Allentown) scored his first-career points on a runner in the lane late in the second half.   
- The Broncs return to action Sunday, when they play host to Marist. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Alumni Gym on ESPN+.    

Broncs by the Numbers
- Murray scored his 1,000^th collegiate point on a jumper in the paint at the 1:26 mark of the first half. He scored the first 491 points in 61 games over two seasons at Incarnate Word before scoring the next 509 points in just 33 games over the past two seasons at Rider.
- Jaelen McGlone (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) scored a team-high 11 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, to go along with five rebounds, matching his career high.
- Nehemiah Benson (Streetsboro, OH/Lutheran East) added 10 points on 4-of-4 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. It matched his career high, established Nov. 23 against Middle Tennessee.
- Vaughn finished with nine points, two blocked shots and two steals.
- Ogemuno-Johnson added eight points on 3-of-3 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.  
- Iona outshot Rider, 41.9 percent (26-62) to 30.4 percent (17-56) from the floor, including a 30.4 percent (7-23) to 5.6 percent (1-18) edge from long range.
- Rider took an 82.6 percent (19-23) to 80.8 percent (21-26) advantage from the free-throw line.
- Iona outrebounded Rider, 47-33, including a 14-8 discrepancy on the offensive glass.