LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]) scored a team-high 21 points, but the Rider University men's basketball team dropped an overtime heartbreaker to hOURglass Rival Monmouth, 77-74, Thursday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the loss, the Broncs slip to 5-15 (5-12 MAAC), while the Hawks improve to 11-7 (11-6 MAAC).

Monmouth moved out to a six-point lead, 13-7, in the early going, before Rider scored 16 of the next 20 points to take a six-point lead of its own, 23-17, with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. Rodney Henderson, Jr. (Carson, CA/Avon Old Farms [CSUN]) hit a pair of three's in the run. Later, a 10-0 Rider run pushed the Broncs' lead to 14 with 1:18 remaining in the period. Murray scored five points in the run. Monmouth countered with eight-straight points before Murray beat the halftime buzzer to give Rider a 38-29 lead heading into the break. Murray led Rider with 13 points at the half. The Broncs made 7-of-13 attempts from long range in the opening 20 minutes.

The Hawks began the second half on a 13-2 run to take a 42-40 lead with 15:46 remaining. The Broncs retook the lead on an Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College H.S.) three-pointer with 11:47 remaining and gradually grew the lead to nine with 3:14 left. The Hawks used a full-court press to go on a 7-0 run over less a minute to cut the deficit to two and, after a Jeremiah Pope (Clinton, NC/Clinton [Brunswick C.C.]) press-break dunk with 1:34 remaining, Monmouth scored the final four points of regulation to send the game to overtime.

The Broncs again built a lead in overtime, with Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) getting inside for a dunk to put Rider on top, 74-69, with 3:52 left in the extra session. But the Hawks would score the final eight points of the game, including a George Papas three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to turn a one-point Rider lead into a two-point Monmouth advantage. Powell's long three-point attempt in the final seconds wouldn't fall and the Hawks came away with the win.  

Quotes & Notes
"It's just the little things with us. We have to do the little things. Coach preaches it to us all the time. At this point, it's not even Coach. It's just us playing. We have to start listening to him. He's giving us all the little keys to how we should play the game. But, at the end of the day, he can only say so much. It's got to come to us. We have to do the little things out there." – Rider junior guard Dwight Murray, Jr.

- Rider leads the all-time series with Monmouth, 31-24. Rider had won each of the last three against the Hawks at Alumni Gym. The two teams have split in each of the last three years.
- Today's game marked the first overtime contest of the year for Rider.
- The Broncs close out the regular season another 4 p.m. Friday against Monmouth. The game will be nationally-televised on ESPNU.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Murray scored 20 points or more for the sixth time this season, while reaching double figures for the 16^th time in 20 games.
- Murray made 8-of-12 attempts from the floor, including 3-of-5 from long range. He did not leave the court, playing the full 45 minutes, a new career high.  
- Powell scored all 11 of his points in the second half. For the game, he made 4-of-14 attempts and 3-of-9 from long range.
-  Henderson and Pope each contributed nine points. Henderson also had a team-high two steals.
- Christian Ings (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) added eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
- Monmouth outshot the Broncs, 47.5 percent (29-61) to 40.9 percent (27-66) from the floor.
- Rider took advantages of 44.0 percent (11-25) to 38.9 percent (7-18) from long range and 69.2 percent (9-13) to 48.0 percent (12-25) from the free-throw line.
- Monmouth edge Rider, 40-39, on the glass.
- Monmouth took a 20-4 edge on fast-break scoring.
- Rider's bench outscored that of Monmouth, 23-6.