POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Led by double-doubles from Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School [Ole Miss]) and Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]), all five Broncs starters scored in double figures as the Rider University men's basketball team earned a 79-75 road win at Marist Sunday afternoon at McCann Arena. With the win, the Broncs' second-straight, Rider improves to 5-8 (1-2 MAAC), while the Red Foxes fall to 7-7 (2-3 MAAC).

Rider came out red hot, using an early 10-0 run to build a double-digit lead. The Broncs continued to apply pressure and used another 12-3 run to push the lead to its apex, a 16-point cushion, 27-11, on Dimencio Vaughn's (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School [Ole Miss]) lay-up at the 10-minute mark. Still a 16-point Rider lead with less than seven minutes left in the half, Marist chipped away with a 14-2 run. After Jeremiah Pope (Clinton, NC/Clinton [Brunswick C.C.]) momentarily stopped the bleeding with a pull-up jumper, the Red Foxes scored another seven-straight to push the run to 21-4 and take their first lead, 39-38, since 3-2 in the opening minutes. Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College H.S.) found Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) on a slip inside at the 1:12 mark to give Rider a 40-39 lead at the break.

Though Marist tied the game three times early in the second half, the Broncs never trailed in the period. A 14-0 run broke a 51-51 tie and effectively put the game out of reach at 65-51. During the run, the Broncs didn't allow a Marist field goal for a stretch of over Included in the run was a stretch of more than nine minutes without allowing a Marist field goal. An 11-1 Marist run would close the game to within four points and, after Powell connected on 3-of-4 free throws, the last with 16 seconds remaining, Marist answered with a three-pointer, forced a turnover and got a dunk in the final 10 seconds. But two Murray free throws with six seconds left iced the game.

Quotes & Notes
"I just think we're well-rested, mentally and physically. We're practicing. We're breaking things down that we need to break down in order for us to be successful on the court and do what it is that we thought this team is capable of doing. I had said to you guys a while ago that the shooting would get better as we got our legs back underneath us, we got rested and we weren't playing games every other day."

"Obviously we've got guys who can score on the offensive end. But we're getting better defensively. We're working on a lot of that in practice, guarding one-on-one and guarding as a team. I thought our guys did that. We went in some spurts here and there to let them have opportunities to get back into it. But then we'd lock back in and got stop. That's what I'm most proud of."  – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The Broncs hold a 40-26 lead over Marist in the all-time series. However, after the Broncs extended to a nine-game winning streak last Jan. 22, the Red Foxes snapped the streak the next night and pushed it to two-straight with a Dec. 5 win in Lawrenceville.
- 10th-year Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett's teams are now 16-4 against Marist in his tenure.
- Broncs have now won five-straight games over Marist at McCann Arena, dating back to the 2016-17 season.
- Marist was playing without two regulars in MAAC Rookie of the Year candidate Jao Ituka (13.1 ppg.) and key rotation piece Victor Enoh (19.7 minutes per game).
- The Broncs return to action Friday, Jan. 14, when they begin a two-game homestand against Quinnipiac. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- Powell led the Broncs with 15 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from long range to go along with 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
- Murray's team-leading third double-double of the season consisted of 14 points and a career-high 11 assists. His previous career high of eight assists came Dec. 18, 2019, for
- Vaughn posted his second double-double of the year and the 11^th of his Rider career. He finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
- Ogemuno-Johnson finished with a season-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds.
- Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) also chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.
- Pope scored all seven of his points in the first half on 3-for-3 shooting, including a three-pointer.
- A game after finishing with a season-high 17 assists against Gwynedd Mercy, the Broncs established a new season high with 18 assists. In addition to Murray's 11 dimes, James had three and Powell and Vaughn distributed two apiece.
- Rider demolished its previous season-high field-goal percentage (.467), shooting 57.1 percent (28-49), while limiting the Red Foxes to 37.7 percent (23-61). Included in the mark was a 64.3 percent (9-14) to 33.3 percent (12-36) edge from long range.
- Marist took an 85.0 percent (17-20) to 70.0 percent (14-20) advantage from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs won the battle on the glass, 34-29.