LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School [Ole Miss]) compiled a double-double in his fourth-straight league game, but the Rider University men's basketball team fell to Saint Peter's, 58-51, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gym. Vaughn finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, in the process setting a new program steals record with 189 for his Rider career. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 5-10 (1-4 MAAC), while the Peacocks are now 5-6 (3-1 MAAC).  

Saint Peter's jumped out to a six-point lead in the early going before a Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]) three-pointer and a Vaughn lay-up cut the deficit to one. But Saint Peter's outscored Rider, 17-4, over the final 8:03 of the period to take a 35-21 lead into halftime. Vaughn led the Broncs with six points, six rebounds and four steals in the first 20 minutes. But Saint Peter's outshot Rider, 57.7 percent (15-26) to 32.3 percent (10-31), from the floor and took a 12-8 advantage in turnovers in the period.

The Broncs opened the second half on a 7-0 run and extended to a 14-3 spurt to close the deficit to three, 38-35, on Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson's (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) bucket at the 12:51 mark. Vaughn led the Broncs with six points in the run, while Ogemuno-Johnson and Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) had four points apiece.

But the Broncs went cold from the floor, connecting on just one field goal over the next nearly eight minutes of game time, and would draw to within no fewer than four points the rest of the way.

Quotes & Notes
"We needed to take care of the ball. We told these guys if we had more than 15 turnovers, it was going to be hard to win. Those guys do a good job at forcing turnovers, pressuring you. And they were self-inflicted turnovers. We dribbled the ball off our feet at times, turning the ball over because we're not seeing the court. A lot of it had more to do with us than them."

"We didn't execute enough. We had some shots that weren't the shots I was looking for. I'm not saying they were bad shots. We needed to come down and take our time. We had to defend them for most of the possession and then we come down and take a quick shot. That benefits them. It doesn't help us, because then we have to go back down and play defense again." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The Broncs hold a 39-34 lead over Saint Peter's in the all-time series. The two teams split the regular-season series last year, before the Peacocks defeated Rider, 75-60, in the MAAC Quarterfinals. Saint Peter's has now won two straight.
- Rider had won the last three meetings with the Peacocks in Lawrenceville - one win each in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.  
- Vaughn passed former teammate Stevie Jordan and Ryan Thompson, who'd been tied for the program record with 188 steals apiece. He now has 189 career steals.
- The Broncs return to action Wednesday, when they begin a three-game, six-day road trip at Quinnipiac. Tipoff from the People's United Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- Vaughn's five steals matched his career high, accomplished five times. The last two have come against Saint Peter's, including a five-steal performance Jan. 24, 2020, in Alumni Gym.
- Vaughn now has double-doubles in each of his last four MAAC games and four of his last five games overall. The only game in which he didn't complete a double-double was Dec. 20 against Gwynedd Mercy, when he made an early exit with 8:30 remaining in the game and Rider in control by 27 points. He finished that win with 15 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes played.
- Vaughn (1,438 career points) passed Daniel Stewart (1,436) for 15^th all-time at Rider. His 10 boards push his career total to 679, 18 behind Ron Anderson (697) for 15^th in program history. He also stands 15^th in program history with 73 blocks, and together with his program-record 189 steals, would become the only player in program history in the Top 15 in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, should he equal Anderson's mark.
- Murray also reached double figures with 11 points and a game-high five assists.
- Ogemuno-Johnson also finished with 10 points and six rebounds, hitting 4-of-6 from the floor.
- James finished with eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
- Saint Peter's outshot Rider, 40.7 percent (22-54) to 37.0 percent (20-54) from the floor. Rider held the Peacocks to 25.0 percent (7-28) shooting in the second half.
- Neither team could find rhythm beyond the arc, with the Peacocks taking a 23.5 percent (4-17) to 18.2 percent (2-11) edge.
- Rider took an 81.8 percent (9-11) to 66.7 percent (10-15) edge from the free-throw line.
- The Saint Peter's bench outscored Rider's reserves, 27-6.