LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) led the Broncs with 16 points as the Rider University men's basketball team held off Manhattan, 67-65, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the win, the Broncs' third straight, Rider improves to 9-9 (6-3 MAAC), while the Jaspers fall to 6-12 (4-5 MAAC).

Manhattan took an early 12-6 lead on the strength of six points inside from Josh Roberts and a pair of three-pointers. Rider followed with 12 of the next 18 to tie the game at 18-18 with four points each from Allen Betrand (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic [Towson/Rhode Island]) and James in the span. Manhattan surged back ahead with five straight, before Rider took its first lead of the game with six straight, including a pair of Betrand free throws at the 5:37 mark to go on top, 24-23.

The lead exchanged hands five more times in the period, with Rider taking a 33-30 lead on Tariq Ingraham's (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) lay-up at the 2:01 mark. Manhattan would score the half's final five points to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room at halftime. James led the Broncs with eight points in the period.

Rider built its largest lead of the game, five points at 44-39 on a Corey McKeithan (Windsor, CT/Windsor) steal and transition lay-up at the 16:16 mark. Manhattan responded with the next five points to tie the game at 44-44 just shy of the 15-minute mark and the game remained within two points until Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]) converted a pair of free throws at the 8:36 mark to put Rider on top by four. Again Manhattan answered, going on a 10-2 run to take a 62-58 lead on Adam Cisse's lay-up while being fouled with 6:19 left.

Rider scored the next six points on four James free throws and a McKeithan jumper, retaking a 64-62 lead with just over four minutes remaining. With 2:06 left, Manhattan's Ant Nelson was fouled attempting a three-pointer and buried all three free throws to make it 65-64 Jaspers. After the Jaspers forced a misfire from the Broncs, they called timeout with 1:20 remaining. However, the lob pass off the ensuing inbounds missed the mark, sending Rider the other way for a go-ahead Murray fast-break lay-up with 1:12 left. The Broncs forced a pair of misses with less than a minute left. The game remained a one-possession game after Nehemiah Benson (Streetsboro, OH/Lutheran East) made 1-of-2 free throws with 2.3 seconds left. But forced to go the length of the floor for a would-be game-winning three-point attempt, Nelson lost the ball and the Jaspers didn't get a shot off.   

Quotes & Notes
"Another good game. I thought our guys did a really good job down the stretch getting stops. Even their coach muffs up at times. That last play when we had possession, I was a little indecisive on what to do. That's on me. We didn't get a good shot. But I thank the guys for bailing me out on that one. We had different guys come in the game – I thought Corey did some good things. Toks came in and gave us a lift. Nehemiah big one free throw there. A number of guys did some good things. We're starting to come together as a team. More guys are starting to help and we're able to count on a lot more guys than what we were doing early on." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Rider leads the all-time series with Manhattan, 36-26. The two teams split the regular-season series last year, before Rider won in the MAAC Tournament Opening Round. The Broncs are 15-8 against Manhattan under Head Coach Kevin Baggett, winning the last eight meetings with the Jaspers at Alumni Gym.
- Rider has won three-straight games when trailing at the half. The Broncs are 5-6 when trailing at the half this season, but 4-2 in MAAC play.  
- The Broncs are now 5-5 on the season in games decided by five points or less, but 5-2 in league play.
- The Broncs are now 5-2 at Alumni Gym this season.

Broncs by the Numbers
- James scored a team-high 16 points, converting 4-of-10 attempts from the floor and all eight of his free-throw attempts. He also grabbed six rebounds.
- Betrand finished in double figures with 12 points on 4-of-7 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He added a pair of assists.
- Ingraham gave Rider a third player in double figures with 10 points on 2-for-4 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He added four rebounds.  
- Murray chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He attempted a season-low five shots, making three.
- Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) knocked down a pair of three-pointers for six points, while McKeithan also scored six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
- Benson also added five points on 2-for-3 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
- Rider outshot Manhattan, 48.9 percent (22-45) to 44.2 percent (23-52) from the floor.
- The Jaspers took a 40.0 percent (10-25) to 20.0 percent (2-10) edge from long range.
- Rider enjoyed an 87.5 percent (21-24) to 60.0 percent (9-15) advantage from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs outrebounded Manhattan, 36-21, including a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass.
- Rider took a 34-26 edge in points in the paint.
- Manhattan took edges of 19-15 off turnovers and 21-15 in bench scoring.
- The Jaspers led for 20:05 of game time to the Broncs' 11:17 with a lead.
- The game featured 17 lead changes and 14 ties.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action on Friday, when they travel to Marist. Opening tip from McCann Arena is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.