LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting as the Rider University men's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 74-65 win to close out the regular season Saturday evening in Alumni Gym. With the win, the Broncs (12-18, 8-12 MAAC) pulled into a three-way tie for seventh place in the MAAC with Fairfield and Manhattan, but settle for ninth seed and a first-round meeting with the eighth-seeded Jaspers Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Atlantic City.

Rider scored first and never trailed, immediately building a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Broncs gradually built the lead to seven, 14-7, on a Murray lay-up at the 14:05 mark and kept building to an eight-point advantage on Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson's (Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner) conventional three-point play at the 8:05 mark. Down to a four-point lead with less than four minutes to play in the period, the Broncs outscored the Hawks, 14-5, over the final 3:26 of the half to take a 43-30 lead into the break.

James sparked the run with a three-point play, Nehemiah Benson (Streetsboro, OH/Lutheran East) knocked in a three off glass and Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) buried a three of his own, before Murray scored the last five points of the period to comprise the run. James led the Broncs with 13 points and five rebounds in the first half, while Murray added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

After the Broncs built the lead to 15 in the opening minutes of the second half, the Hawks chipped away, first to a 10-point Rider lead, and later, with a 9-0 run to close to within one on Samuel Chaput's three-pointer at the 7:06 mark. But James knocked down a pull-up jumper on the next Rider possession and Ogemuno-Johnson followed with a pair of free throws to restore order. Monmouth scored on its next possession to cut it back to three, but Rider scored the next seven points to push the lead back to 10 with 2:24 left on consecutive James buckets followed by three Dimencio Vaughn (New York, NY/Callaway/The Masters School) free throws following a pair of steals by the Broncs' all-time leader. The Hawks could draw no closer than to within seven the rest of the way.

Quotes & Notes
"Happy for Senior Day, sending Dimencio and Jeremiah Pope out on a high note, good note. Thankful for Dimencio for the past four years that he's been with us. Mervin played well today. I thought collectively, we played well. Guys were focused and we did what we needed to do in order to get this win and go into the tournament with a little momentum and knowing that we can beat anybody." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"We're sponges and also gladiators. People, they look at our sizes, we're little compared to certain teams. But we're always going to put up a fight. We're not going to back down. We're not scared. We've just got to be patient and we'll get what we need and win. Different things have happened this season. Everyone has soaked everything in, understood it and now we've got to put it to the table. And every time we go out, we're fighting. It's always a war out on the court." – Graduate forward Dimencio Vaughn

- Rider leads the all-time series with Monmouth, 32-26. MU swept a pair of close games last season in Lawrenceville - a 77-74 overtime decision to open the weekend series and a 65-62 win to take the sweep, before earning another close win, 60-58, this past Feb. 18. Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett is 10-11 against King Rice's Monmouth teams since taking over in 2012-13.   
- Prior to the game, the Broncs honored Vaughn, Jeremiah Pope (Clinton, NC/Clinton [Brunswick C.C.]) and student manager O'Hene Sah-Adubofour on Senior Day.
- Just one game in the standings separated the fifth seed from the ninth seed. Rider takes a tie for seventh with Fairfield and Manhattan, but is the ninth seed by virtue of a 1-3 record against the Stags and Jaspers this season, compared to Fairfield's 3-1 mark and Manhattan's 2-2 record.
- The Broncs open MAAC Championship play Tuesday evening at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City at 5 p.m. against Manhattan in the First Round.

Broncs by the Numbers
- James made 10-of-12 attempts from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line for his game-high 23 points. He also added seven rebounds and a steal.
- Murray contributed 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. He shot 4-of-9 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from long range, and made all six of his free-throw attempts.
- Ogemuno-Johnson scored 12 points on 3-of-3 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. He matched James' team-high seven rebounds.
- Vaughn and Powell each added eight points, while Vaughn grabbed seven rebounds, made two steals and blocked a shot.
- The Broncs outshot Monmouth, 50.0 percent (24-48) to 41.8 percent (23-55) from the floor.
- The Hawks took a 39.1 percent (9-23) to 31.6 percent (6-19) from long range.
- Rider outshot the Hawks, 80.0 percent (20-25) to 50.0 percent (10-20) from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs took a 33-32 edge on the glass.
- Rider outscored Monmouth, 13-4 in fast-break points.
- Other than the opening tip, the game featured one tie at 2-2. The Broncs led for 39:18 of game time.