LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) scored 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting as the Rider University men's basketball team coasted to an 87-50 win over local foe The College of New Jersey, 87-50, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the win, the Broncs even their record at 1-1, while the Lions fell in their season opener.

After TCNJ took an early 3-2 lead on a three-pointer in the opening minutes, the Broncs used a 10-3 spurt to open a 12-6 lead and never trailed again. Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College H.S.) scored the first five points of the run, before Murray scored the next five. A 12-0 run later in the half pushed the advantage to 44-23 and the Broncs took a 46-27 lead into the break at halftime. Murray and Powell each shot 5-of-6 from the floor and 1-of-2 from long range for the half, with Murray also hitting all three of his free-throw attempts to lead the team with 14 points. Powell added 11 points and four steals. Rider shot 55.9 percent (19-34) for the half.

TCNJ whittled the Broncs' lead down to 17 early in the second half, but Rider would gradually increase the advantage to as many as 37 points on a Zahrion Blue (Princeton, NJ/Princeton [Lincoln]) putback to cap the game's scoring at the 1:22 mark.

Quotes & Notes
"Thought our guys did a good job. One thing we talked about, coming off the Providence game, no let downs to come in here and do what we needed to do at home and really continue to get better as a team, individually and collective, and just executing the things we worked on the past couple of days leading up to this game." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Though TCNJ and Rider have played exhibition games with some frequency over the last several years, the last official game between the two schools came in 1989-90, when first-year Head Coach Kevin Bannon fell to his former squad, 75-69, on Feb. 12, 1990, in Alumni Gym. The Lions had won five-straight in the all-time series, with Rider's prior win coming on Jan. 17, 1983, in Ewing. The Broncs now lead the series, 29-17.
- Rider played a non-Division I opponent for the second-straight year after a COVID cancellation by an opponent created an extended break in the schedule and the Broncs added Gwynedd Mercy to the schedule last Dec. 20. The Broncs' last official game against a non-Division I opponent prior to last season was a Nov. 29, 2003 game at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
- Prior to last season's Gwynedd Mercy game, it had been more than 27 years since Rider last played a Division III opponent – a Dec. 1, 1994, win over Montclair State.
- Adetokunbo Bakare (Newark, NJ/St. Benedict's [Indian Hills C.C./NJIT]) and Jack McFadden (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) made their Rider regular-season debuts off the bench.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- Murray made 6-of-7 attempts from the floor, including 1-of-2 from long range, and connected on all four of his free-throw attempts for 17 points. He also added five rebounds.
- Powell hit 6-of-8 attempts, including 2-of-4 from long range, for 14 points. He also added four steals.
- Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) added 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 13 minutes off the bench. He made 5-of-9 attempts from the floor.
- Tyrel Bladen (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) chipped in with nine points, including 4-for-4 shooting from the floor.
- Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Bonner-Prendergast) and Allen Betrand (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic [Towson/Rhode Island]) added eight points apiece.
- Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) and Corey McKeithan (Windsor, CT/Windsor) had three assists apiece to lead the Broncs.
- Rider dished out 13 assists, while turning the ball over just four times.
- Rider took a 56-24 edge in points in the paint.
- The Broncs outscored TCNJ, 14-2, off turnovers, 16-7, on second chances, 16-0, in fast break points and 34-3 off the bench.
- Rider led for 38:58 of game time to the Lions' 14 seconds.
- For the game, Rider outshot TCNJ, 50.7 percent (36-71) to 37.3 percent (19-51), including a 35.3 percent (6-17) to 22.2 percent (6-10) edge from beyond the arc. Rider also shot 75.0 percent (9-12) from the free-throw line to TCNJ's 60.0 percent (6-10).
- The Broncs outrebounded the Lions, 43-30.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Friday, when they begin play in the MAAC/ASUN Dublin Challenge from National Basketball Arena in Dublin, Ireland. First up is a 5 a.m. (ET)/10 a.m. (GMT) tip-off vs. Stetson on ESPNU.