FAIRFIELD, CT – Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) tied the game at the end of regulation and scored the Broncs' first seven points of overtime as the Rider University men's basketball team earned its fifth-straight win, defeating Fairfield, 78-69, Sunday afternoon at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. With the win, the Broncs improve to 11-9 (8-3 MAAC), while the Stags (10-11, 6-5 MAAC) saw their own four-game winning streak snapped.

After Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) got inside for two to open the scoring, Fairfield went on a 7-0 run and led for the remainder of the first half. The Stags' lead remained within arm's reach for much of the period, before swelling to 10 on a Supreme Cook bucket with one minute remaining. Rider got a pair of Tyrel Bladen (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) free throws to cut the deficit to eight, 36-28, at the half. James and Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]) led Rider with six points apiece.

The difference in the first half was a 7-2 discrepancy in turnovers, resulting in a 10-0 Fairfield edge in points off turnovers, and a friendlier whistle for the Stags (7-5), resulting in 10 free-throw attempts for Fairfield (7-10) to Rider's three attempts (3-3).

Rider came out red hot to begin the second half, scoring the first 11 points to retake the lead, 39-36. Murray had five points in the run, while James had four. Fairfield retook the lead with six-straight points. Rider twice briefly retook one-point leads in the second half, but Fairfield led for the majority, including a five-point deficit following two Fairfield free throws with 31 seconds remaining. The Broncs misfired twice on their next possession, before Murray buried a three with 13 seconds left. Rider fouled with 12.2 seconds left and Caleb Fields misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for Rider. The Broncs again misfired twice, but twice collected the offensive rebound for putback attempts, with Powell grabbing the ball and releasing in one motion to beat the buzzer and sent it to overtime.

After the Broncs won the overtime tip, Powell scored on a strong drive, and after Fairfield evened the score at 67-67, Powell gave Rider the lead for good with a triple at the 1:51 mark. The lead swelled to five on two more Powell free throws and the Rider continued to push the advantage to 11 and put the game away from the free-throw line.

Quotes & Notes
"Just a good game by both teams. Exciting. Great atmosphere. We just had to hang in and take their best shot. We kept throwing our punches, they kept throwing theirs. It's a MAAC game. It came down to AP here on a tap-in. Ajiri actually had a lay-up but missed it. AP followed it up and, once we got to overtime, we felt pretty good about things from there." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Fairfield leads the all-time series, 37-35. The Broncs snapped the Stags' three-game winning streak in the series. Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett's teams are 11-9 against the Stags, including a 4-2 mark in games played on Fairfield's campus. Today's meeting was the first at the brand new Leo D. Mahoney Arena.
- Rider has won five-straight games when trailing at the half. The Broncs are 7-6 when trailing at the half this season, but 6-2 in MAAC play.  
- Rider's five-game winning streak is now longest in the league after Quinnipiac's six-game streak was snapped today by Iona.
- The five-game winning streak is Rider's longest since a five-game streak wrapped up on Dec. 16, 2020. Rider hasn't had a six-game winning streak since winning 10-straight from Jan. 18 to Feb. 18, 2018. 
- The win was Rider's first in overtime since Dec. 16, 2017. The Broncs had lost five-straight overtime games in the stretch, including three last year. Today's game marked the first time a Rider game went to overtime this year.
- The Broncs are now 6-5 on the road this season.
- Rider has now won 36 games under Baggett when trailing in the game by double digits. The Broncs have now overcome a double-digit deficit in four of the last five games after defeating Iona on the road (Jan. 15) despite an 18-point Gaels advantage early in the second half, winning over Niagara (Jan. 20) after trailing by 11 with less than 17 minutes to play and trailing by 14 in the first half at Marist (Jan. 27).

Broncs by the Numbers
- Murray scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-5 from long range. He added six rebounds, a team-high three steals and two assists.
- Powell added 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 2-of-6 from deep, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. He also dished out a team-high three assists.
- Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Bonner-Prendergast) added 15 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists in 24 minutes off the bench. It was his third double-digit scoring output of the year and his first since scoring 12 points at Niagara on Jan. 2.   
- James added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and made both of his free-throw attempts. He also added seven rebounds and the Broncs were a game-high +18 with him on the court.
- Allen Betrand (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic [Towson/Rhode Island]) chipped in with six points and five rebounds.
- Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) had four points on 2-for-2 shooting.
- Corey McKeithan (Windsor, CT/Windsor) contributed a three-pointer, two assists, two rebounds and a steal.
- For the game, the Broncs outshot the Stags, 46.9 percent (30-64) to 41.1 percent (23-56) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5-17) to 25.0 percent (6-24) from long range and 92.9 percent (13-14) to 63.0 percent (17-27) from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs took a 41-30 advantage on the glass, including a 17-12 edge on the offensive boards.
- Rider outscored Fairfield, 46-30, in the paint.
- Fairfield took a 17-6 edge in points off turnovers.
- The Stags led for 35:22 of game time to the Broncs' 6:02 with a lead.
- Rider's bench outscored that of Fairfield, 20-17.
   
Up Next
The Broncs return to action on Friday, when they play host to Saint Peter's. Opening tip from Alumni Gym is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.