POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Rider University men's basketball team outscored Marist, 26-5, to start the second half en route to a 68-52 road win Friday night at McCann Arena. With the win, the Broncs' fourth-straight, Rider (10-9, 7-3 MAAC) swept the regular-season series with the Red Foxes (7-12, 3-7 MAAC) for the seventh time in Head Coach Kevin Baggett's 11 seasons at the helm.

Rider jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage on buckets from Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]), Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) and Allen Betrand (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic [Towson/Rhode Island]), but Marist responded with a 15-0 run to open a double-digit lead. The Red Foxes' advantage swelled to 14 points, 23-9, on a Patrick Gardner lay-up at the 9:26 mark, before Rider began to chip away. Eight straight Broncs points led to a 20-5 run, giving Rider a 29-28 advantage on Murray's jumper with 1:25 left in the period. Two Gardner free throws put Marist back on top, 30-29, at the half. Murray led Rider with six points at the break. Rider outshot Marist, 52.0 percent (13-25) to 40.0 percent (12-30), in the opening 20 minutes.

The Broncs opened the second with a Murray three-pointer, and after the Red Foxes knotted the score with an Isaiah Brickner jumper, Rider scored the next 15 points and methodically pushed the run to 25-3 to build a 22-point lead, 57-35. Seven different Broncs scored in the run, including six points each from James and Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) and five from Murray. Marist later used a 7-0 run to cut the Broncs' lead to 12, but could draw no closer.

Quotes & Notes
"We just had to be there for our starters. We saw they were playing a little sluggish, a little slow. We had to pick up the energy. We just had to fight, bring us back into the game. Once they saw us with all that energy, they came back in with a lot more energy in the second half and we took it over."

"Right now, we're actually in a really good space. Everybody's positive. No one's negative. We talk to each other everyday. We talk to each other with respect – on the court, off the court. We're good friends off the court. As long as we stay together, everything's going to come together." – Rider Graduate Guard Zahrion Blue

- Rider leads the all-time series with Marist, 42-26. The series dates back just over 42 years to Dec. 20, 1980. The Broncs are 18-4 against Marist under Baggett, including a 9-1 mark at McCann Arena.
- Rider has won four-straight games when trailing at the half. The Broncs are 6-6 when trailing at the half this season, but 5-2 in MAAC play.  
- The Broncs are now 5-5 on the road this season.
- The 52 points are a Division I opponent season low. Rider also held TCNJ to 50 points on Nov. 12.   
- All of Rider's first nine league games were decided by single digits, including six by a single possession (three points or fewer). Tonight's game was the first decided by double digits, win or lose.
- Rider won a game by double digits in which it trailed by double-digits at McCann Arena for the second time in the last six seasons. Rider trailed by 21 points on Feb. 10, 2018, before storming back to win the game, 89-79.
- Rider has now won 35 games under Baggett when trailing in the game by double digits. The Broncs have now overcome a double-digit deficit in three of the last four games after defeating Iona on the road (Jan. 15) despite an 18-point Gaels advantage early in the second half and winning over Niagara (Jan. 20) after trailing by 11 with less than 17 minutes to play.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Murray scored a team-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
- James added 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 1-of-2 from long range. He grabbed five rebounds.
- Powell scored all 11 of his points in the second half, hitting 4-of-7 attempts from the floor, including 2-of-4 from long range, and 1-of-2 free throws in the final 20 minutes.
- Betrand dished out a team-high and career-high five assists, all in the second half. He added six points for the game.
- Corey McKeithan (Windsor, CT/Windsor) scored a season-high seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and a conversion on his only free-throw attempt.
- Zahrion Blue (Princeton, NJ/Princeton [Lincoln (Pa.)] chipped in with six points and a season-high seven rebounds. He made all three of his field-goal attempts. Rider was +17 in his 16 minutes.
- Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Bonner-Prendergast) finished with six points on 3-of-3 shooting, a team-high eight rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes off the bench. The Broncs were +18 in his minutes.
- Rider forced just five Marist turnovers, but held the Red Foxes to 32.8 percent (20-61) shooting for the game, including 21.2 percent (7-33) in the second half.
- The Broncs shot 53.7 percent (29-54) for the game, their second-best shooting performance of the season behind the 57.7 percent (30-52) they shot against Monmouth (Nov. 30). It marked the third time Rider shot over 50 percent this season and the first since the Nov. 30 contest against the Hawks.
- Rider (41.7 percent, 5-12) made two fewer three-pointers than Marist (21.2 percent, 7-33) on 21 fewer attempts.
- Marist made 5-of-7 free-throw attempts (71.4 percent) to Rider's 5-of-8 (62.5 percent).
- The Broncs took a 40-29 edge on the glass, including a 10-7 edge on the offensive boards.
- Rider took a 38-20 edge in points in the paint.
- Marist outscored Rider, 17-6, off turnovers.
- Rider's bench outscored that of Marist, 24-18.
- The Broncs owned a lead for 21:49 of game time to Marist's 16:51.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Fairfield in a match-up of teams currently on four-game winning streaks. Opening tip from Leo D. Mahoney Arena is slated for 2 p.m. on ESPN3.