NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The Rider University men's basketball team outscored Niagara, 27-5, to open the second half to erase a 17-point halftime deficit and earn a 70-67 road win Sunday afternoon at the Gallagher Center. The Broncs (6-12, 2-6 MAAC) forced nine Niagara (8-10, 3-6 MAAC) turnovers in the decisive span, resulting in 10 of the 27 points, after the Purple Eagles coughed up just five first-half turnovers. The Broncs committed a season-low seven turnovers themselves to snap a four-game losing skid.

After Rider built a 13-9 lead just over six minutes in, the Purple Eagles answered with a 20-4 run, the last 18 points of which came on six-straight three-point field goals. Justin Roberts made the last four to give Niagara a 29-17 lead at the 8:15 mark. The Purple Eagles continued to build the lead to 17 at the break, 42-25. Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School [Ole Miss]) and Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) led Rider with eight points apiece in the first 20 minutes.  

In the decisive second-half-opening run, Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) led the Broncs with nine points, while Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]) had seven and James added five. Vaughn had two of his three stelas in the stretch. Following the run, Niagara scored five-straight to tie the game at 52-52 with just over eight minutes remaining. But the Broncs extended the run to 37-11 with 10 of the next 11 points after the Purple Eagles knotted the score. Rider never trailed after Murray's lay-up at the 7:35 mark and James added four points in the later 10-1 run.

Some anxious moments came in the final minute, as Niagara whittled the Broncs' advantage to two in the final six seconds on a Jordan Cintron lay-up off an inbounds play. The play came following a ruling that Niagara was out of bounds attempting to save the ball, only to be reviewed and overturned, resulting in an alternate possession with the arrow in favor of the Purple Eagles and the unintended consequence of stopping the clock for Niagara, which was out of timeouts. Powell connected on 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point Rider advantage with five seconds remaining before Marcus Hammond's 30-foot attempt from beyond the right wing only grazed the front rim to end the game.

Quotes & Notes
"We've been doing this the entire year. Whether we could win the game or not, we've been coming back. I'm giving all the credit to these guys. In the locker room, what they were saying – it had nothing to do with the coaching. It had all to do with the players."

"I think they understand we've lost some games we shouldn't have and we've blown some leads we shouldn't have. But, at the end of the day, they'll never quit on one another or quit on us. I think the frustrations lie that we just weren't able to close games out and I hope today is a game you can build on. It wasn't perfect. But down the stretch we figured a way to win. We were the aggressors. We went out and we made things happen. We didn't sit back and allow them to dictate things to us."  – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Rider leads the all-time series with Niagara, 29-24. The Broncs and Purple Eagles split a two-game set at the Gallagher Center last season and had split the last six meetings in Western New York. Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett's teams are now 14-4 against Niagara.
- Rider erased a double-digit deficit in a win for the second time this season (11 vs. Bucknell, Nov. 24).
- The last time Rider erased a deficit of at least 17 points in a win came Jan. 3, 2019, at Fairfield, when Tyere Marshall's bucket with five seconds left gave Rider its only lead of the game, the 83-82 final score. Fairfield led by 17 inside of 19 minutes remaining in the second half.
- Rider had just seven three-point attempts. The last time it attempted as few as seven three-pointers? Jan. 3, 2019, at Fairfield, when it also erased a 17-point second-half deficit.  
- The last time Rider erased a deficit of more than 17 points in a win was a Feb. 10, 2018, win at Marist in which the Broncs trailed the Red Foxes by 21 with just over 10 minutes remaining and won by 10 in regulation.
- The Broncs also trailed by double-digits in their last win at Niagara, Jan. 8, 2021, when they got behind by 11 with less than five minutes left in the first half. Rider went on to win, 76-70.  
- The Broncs return home for two games at Alumni Gym next week, the first coming Friday against Fairfield. Opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- James made 7-of-11 attempts from the floor, including a conversion on his only three-point attempt, to go along with 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
- Powell made 6-of-12 from the floor, 1-of-2 from long range, and hit 4-of-6 free-throw attempts.
- Vaughn posted his team-leading fifth double-double of the year with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. He now has 14 career double-doubles. Already the program's all-time leader in steals, Vaughn now has 197 for his career. He did the bulk of his scoring with 7-of-8 shooting at the free-throw line.
- The Broncs were +20 in Vaughn's 31+ minutes on the court before fouling out.
- Murray also finished in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. He scored all 11 of his points after halftime.
- Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) added eight points and seven rebounds.
- Niagara outshot the Broncs, 46.9 percent (23-49) to 40.7 percent (24-59), from the floor, including a 50.0 percent (12-24) to 28.6 percent (2-7) edge from long range.
- Rider took a 66.7 percent (20-30) to 56.3 percent (9-16) advantage from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs outrebounded Niagara, 37-28, including a 10-2 edge on the offensive glass.
- Rider's seven turnovers were the fewest for the Broncs since Dec. 23, 2018 against Cal State Northridge (6). 
- Rider took advantages of 16-8 in points off turnovers, 34-18 in the paint, 20-2 on second chances and 7-0 on fast breaks.
- Niagara's bench outscored Rider's, 20-4.
- Niagara led for 20:38 of game play to Rider's 14:43.
- The game featured six lead changes and five ties.