LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Mervin James (St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook [North Alabama]) led the Rider University men's basketball team with 14 points and nine rebounds, but the Broncs fell to Mount St. Mary's, 63-58, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 15-12 (12-6 MAAC), while the Mountaineers improve to 11-19 (7-12 MAAC).
  
After the Broncs began the game with nine of the first 12 points, including seven from James, Mount St. Mary's scored the next 19 points and extended its advantage to 14 with a Jalen Benjamin jumper at the 5:48 mark. Rider chipped away and got the deficit down to eight on a Corey McKeithan (Windsor, CT/Windsor) And 1 with 58 seconds left in the period. Mount St. Mary's got a free throw to extend to a 31-22 lead at the break. James' seven points led Rider in the period. Mount St. Mary's took a 48.0 percent (12-25) to 30.3 percent (10-33) shooting edge. Both teams took care of the ball, with Rider committing just two turnovers, while forcing three Mount cough ups.

Mount St. Mary's started the second half strong, scoring the first five points and pushing the advantage to 42-27 on a Malik Jefferson free throw at the 17:04 mark. Rider would go on a 9-0 run to whittle the deficit to six by the 10:44 mark, with James, Dwight Murray, Jr. (Austell, GA/Pebblebrook [Incarnate Word]), McKeithan and Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) all making field goals in the span.

A Murray three-pointer at the 6:04 mark brought The Mount's lead down to three, but the Mountaineers continued to push back, rebuilding their lead to seven. Rider scored the next five points to cut it to two on 1-of-2 free throws from Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]). After missing the second free throw with 1:13 left, a Mount St. Mary's player tracked down the rebound, but was standing on the end line, giving the ball back to Rider. But Powell misfired on a jumper, The Mount scored on the other end and the Mountaineers maintained a two-possession lead for the remainder.    

Quotes & Notes
"We didn't play well today. We didn't start the game right way, didn't finish the game the right way, didn't play smart, got our behinds handed to us defensively, didn't execute. It wasn't a good day for us." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Rider leads the all-time series with Mount St. Mary's, 14-13. The Broncs and Mountaineers met for the first time as MAAC foes earlier this season after playing 13 times in the Broncs' five seasons in the NEC, including nine times over their last three seasons in the conference from 1994-95 through 1996-97. Rider won this year's first meeting in Emmitsburg, MD, 68-65.  
- With today's results around the MAAC, Iona clinched the MAAC Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the MAAC Championships, to be played March 7-11 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
- The Broncs have clinched a top four seed in the tournament. Rider is currently second in the standings, a game ahead of Siena (11-7) and two games ahead of Quinnipiac (10-8). A win at Saint Peter's on Thursday would clinch a top three seed, while wins in both of the Broncs' two remaining games (home vs. Iona Saturday) would clinch the No. 2 seed.
- Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson (Delta State, Nigeria/Bonner-Prendergast) broke Mike Ringgold's program games played record with his 134^th today.  
- The Broncs are now 8-4 in home games this season.
- Rider trailed at the half for the first time in seven games.
- Each of Rider's last five games and 12 of 18 in MAAC play have been decided by five points or less.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- James scored 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-4 from long range. He made 1-of-3 free-throw attempts and added two assists.
- Ingraham finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed six rebounds.
- Murray had nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-5 from long range, and made 1-of-2 from the line. He dished out a team-best three assists.
- Powell added eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-2 from both beyond the arc and at the free-throw line. He added two assists.
- Ogemuno-Johnson matched his career high with four steals. The other instance in which he had four steals was the Dec. 3 match-up with Mount St. Mary's this year. Ogemuno-Johnson added six points and four rebounds.
- McKeithan also scored six points and added two steals.
- Mount St. Mary's outshot Rider, 44.0 percent (22-50) to 37.7 percent (23-61) from the floor. The 37.7 percent is Rider's lowest percentage since being held to 37.9 percent (22-58) at Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 3.
- After going nine games without being outrebounded, the Broncs have now been outrebounded in consecutive games, with The Mount taking a 42-34 edge on the glass today. Rider took a 12-10 edge in offensive rebounds.
- Both teams scored 28 points in the paint.
- Rider committed just five turnovers, its fewest turnovers against a Division I team this season and the second-fewest overall (4 vs. TCNJ, Nov. 12).
- Rider's bench took a 14-10 advantage in scoring over that of Mount St. Mary's.
- Mount St. Mary's led for 33:25 of game time to Rider's 5:31.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Thursday, when they travel to Saint Peter's. Tip-off from Run Baby Run Arena in Jersey City is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.