LEWISBURG, PA – Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) had a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds and T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) added 12 points and six rebounds as the Rider University men's basketball team earned his fourth road win of the season – most in the nation – with a 57-53 victory at Bucknell Saturday night. With the win, the Broncs improve to 4-2, while the Bison fall to 4-3.

After the teams were tied at 5-5 in the early going, Rider went on a 9-0 run to take the early 14-5 lead by the 12:38 mark. The first four points were scored by Ingraham and the run was punctuated with T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) finding Alaaeddine Boutayeb (Casablanca, Morocco/Miami Dade College [Florida State/Arkansas State]) on a cut down the lane for a thunderous flush.

Later, an 8-0 Bucknell run gave the Bison their first lead since 2-0, 22-21, on a Achile Spadone three-pointer at the 5:18 mark. But Rider again responded with a 7-0 run, including four points from Ingraham to retake a 28-22 lead and held onto the six-point lead, 30-24, at the half. Ingraham led the Broncs, which outscored Bucknell, 16-0, on second chances in the opening 20 minutes, with eight points and six rebounds.

The Broncs' lead fluctuated between two and seven points for the first 10 minutes of the second half, before Ingraham's baby hook made it 46-38 with 9:38 remaining. But shortly thereafter, Weeks Jr. left the game following a collision that left a gash over his right eye. Weeks Jr. exited the game for 4:35 of game time to get stitches, during which time the Broncs did not make a field goal. Bucknell closed to within as few as two points in the span, but four free throws and Weeks Jr.'s pull-up jumper with 2:42 remaining ended the drought and pushed the lead back to eight.

But Bucknell wouldn't go away, scoring the next five points to cut it to three with 1:28 remaining. Bucknell's Josh Bascoe later made two free throws with 12 seconds left to cut it to a 54-53 lead and two missed Rider free throws left the door open. But Bascoe's fadeaway baseline jumper was short and Rider closed the game out from the free-throw line, including two technical free throws from Weeks Jr. after the Bison attempted to fall a timeout they didn't have.

Quotes & Notes
"We've just got to step up and make free throws. We've done that in the past and then this game isn't a nail biter. Then you take the game out of the refs' hands if you just make free throws. All in all, guys just stuck together. We're learning how to win in situations like this. There's nothing like it to get to experience it. You'd rather be on this side than the other side."

"Give our guys credit for just grinding. And give (Bucknell) credit. They were down (eight) at one point. So give them some credit, too."

(On defending Bucknell's Noah Williamson) "We challenged our posts. We told Riq it started with him. We needed to make sure we brought some doubles on him. In the Iowa game, we left our bigs out there too much. I thought we needed to double the big. He's really good. He's their main go-to guy down in the paint. So, I challenged them and I thought our guys did a great job." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The Broncs have won the last two against Bucknell to cut Bison's lead in the all-time series to 31-27. The Broncs and Bison last met in 2021-22, when they split a pair of games a week apart, with Bucknell taking the first meeting, 81-74, at home on Nov. 17 before Rider evened the score with an 85-79 victory on Nov. 24 in the Cancun Challenge. The two programs were Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference foes from the 60's into the early 1990's.
- The meeting was the first for the two teams since former Rider Assistant Coach John Griffin III and former Bronc Matt Griffin (2007-09) took over as Head Coach and Assistant Coach, respectively, at Bucknell.  
- The Broncs' four true road wins are the most in the nation, ahead of UC Irvine (3-0) and Columbia (3-0) with three each.
- Rider held Williamson to eight points and five rebounds after he entered the game averaging 18.2 points and 8.2 rebounds.   
- 9 of 11 Broncs to see action scored at least one point.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Ingraham scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He added a team-high nine rebounds, while adding an assist, a steal and a block.
- Weeks Jr. scored 12 points on 3-of-10 from the floor and hit all six of his free-throw attempts. He added six rebounds and a steal.
- Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) added nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.
- Tyriek Weeks (Warwick, RI/Pilgrim [Miami Dade College]) chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds.
- Bucknell took a 35.4 percent (17-48) to 32.7 percent (17-52) edge from the floor.
- The Broncs outshot Bucknell, 31.3 percent (5-16) to 25.0 percent (7-28) from long range and 66.7 percent (18-27) to 60.0 percent (12-20) from the free-throw line.
- Rider outrebounded Bucknell, 42-29, including a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass.
- Rider enjoyed a 20-9 edge in second-chance points.
- Rider's bench outscored that of Bucknell, 13-10.  
- Rider led for 37:37 of game time and never trailed by more than two points.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Wednesday, when they travel to Villanova. Tipoff from Finneran Pavilion is scheduled for 7 p.m. on FS2.