SAN DIEGO, CA – T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed five rebounds and Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) added 15 points as the Rider University men's basketball team picked up a 68-67 road win at the University of San Diego Wednesday night. With the win, the Broncs improve to 1-1, while the Toreros fell in their season opener.

After San Diego jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the early going, the Broncs responded with a 12-2 spurt to take a 14-10 lead. Weeks Jr., Alvarez and Andre Young (Mableton, GA/Pebblebrook [Troy/Gulf Coast State Coll.]) sparked the run with three-pointers. The stretch extended to 20-7, with Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) punctuating it with a three-point play at the 9:33 mark to put Rider on top, 22-15.

San Diego responded with the next six and eventually pulled ahead by as many as five, 35-30, on a goaltend with 26 seconds left. Ruben Rodriguez (Reading, PA/Reading) scored on a drive on the Broncs' final possession of the half to cut it to a 35-32 deficit at the half. Weeks Jr. led the Broncs with nine points and five rebounds in the first half.

Weeks Jr. made a three from the top of the key to open the second-half scoring and tie the game at 35-35 and the Broncs took their first lead of the latter stanza, 41-40, on a give-and-go between Weeks Jr. and Ife West-Ingram (Philadelphia, PA/Abington Friends) for a lay-up. The Rider lead would grow to as many as eight points on a Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) drive with 7:11 left. San Diego would score the next seven points to trim the Rider lead to one with 4:52 left and retook the lead on two Santiago Trouet free throws with 1:38 left. On the ensuing Rider possession, Rodriguez got a floater in the lane to fall for a 68-67 lead and neither team would score again. The Toreros had a pair of looks in the final 10 seconds, but Burton grabbed the rebound on the second. Though he missed a front end of a one-and-one with 0.7 seconds remaining, the Toreros couldn't get a full-court shot away as time expired.

Quotes & Notes
"It wasn't pretty, but I liked the way our group hung together, stayed together. We've got to learn, the problem being that we just haven't had enough time to deal with enough situational things. We're trying to get 10 new guys on the same page. This was one of those times we get a chance to learn."

(On the bench contributions) "It's awesome. I talked about hopefully having depth this year. It's good to see some of those guys like TWeeks and Flash come in and have the game he had. We're going to need these guys all year long. We turn around and play again in 48 hours. So good to have some of those guys come off the bench and help us win this game." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The Broncs and Toreros were facing each other on the hardwood for the first time.
- Rider has won its last two and three of its last four match-ups with West Coast Conference opponents. Prior to tonight's win, the Broncs defeated Pacific on Dec. 10, 2016, in Stockton, CA, and Loyola Marymount in a neutral-site game in Springfield, MA, on Nov. 21, 2010. The lone setback came to Santa Clara in Orlando, FL, on Nov. 30, 2014.
- Nine different Broncs scored in the win.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Weeks Jr. led the Broncs with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-9 from long range, while making 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
- Alvarez scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from long range. He made 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.
- Ingraham added seven points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
- Rodriguez, Young and West-Ingram scored six points apiece. West-Ingram also contributed a team-high six rebounds and the Broncs were team-best +10 with him on the court.  
- Tyriek Weeks (Warwick, RI/Pilgrim [Miami Dade College]) added five points, two rebounds and a blocked shot preventing a fast-break lay-up, all in a span of 2:33 in the second half.
- For the game, the Toreros outshot Rider, 39.7 percent (25-63) to 39.3 percent (22-56) from the floor.
- Rider took a 36.0 percent (9-25) to 33.3 percent (6-18) edge from beyond the arc.
- Rider shot 68.2 percent (15-22) from the free-throw line to San Diego's 64.7 percent (11-17).
- San Diego outrebounded the Broncs, 40-36, including a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass. However, Rider enjoyed a 16-9 edge in second-chance points.
   
Up Next
The Broncs return to action Saturday, when they travel to Coppin State. Tip-off from Baltimore is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.