LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) and Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) scored 13 points apiece, but the Rider University men's basketball team fell to Stony Brook, 72-55, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 4-7, while the Seawolves improve to 3-7.

The teams exchanged 7-0 first-half runs, with Stony Brook taking a 20-14 lead at the 7:31 mark, before Rider edged back ahead, 21-20, on four-straight points from Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara), including a steal and dunk at the 5:26 mark. But Stony Brook answered with a 14-1 run and took a 34-24 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) led the Broncs with nine points in the first half, while Burton added eight.

After Stony Brook opened the second-half scoring, the Broncs went on an 8-0 run, including three points each from Burton and Zion Cruz (Trenton, NJ/Donda [DePaul]), to cut the deficit to four, 36-32, at the 17:09 mark. But Stony Brook answered with a 14-1 spurt to push the lead back to double digits, where it'd remain for the rest of the game.

Quotes & Notes
"Not a good performance. It started with me and all the way down. Just not a good performance today."

"Got to play together as a team, not individuals. We've been struggling to communicate on both ends of the court and we've got to do a better job doing that."

"I think guys are thinking too much and not playing. It's just a lot of breakdowns. Too many breakdowns. Guys doing the wrong things at times. You've got to move the ball. We've got to cut harder. The difference was they played harder than us today. And then they got big rebounds. They outrebounded us. 11 offensive rebounds. They hit the big shots. Again, our three-point field-goal defense has been brutal this year. We won't crowd the ball enough. We're not comfortable or confident enough to get into the ball. And that's been hurting us all year long." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Stony Brook has won the last four meetings to take a 4-3 lead in the all-time series. The Broncs won three-straight games to open the series in February 1971 and January of both 2000 and 2001.
- Rider played without leading scorer T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) due to injury.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Burton scored 13 points on 4-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. He dished out a team-high four assists and made two steals.
- Alvarez hit 5-of-11 from the floor and both of his free-throw attempts. He also added three rebounds and two steals.
- Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) and Tank Byard (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City [Alcorn State]) contributed seven points apiece. The seven points are a season-high for Byard.
- Cruz added five points and a team-high five rebounds.
- The Seawolves outshot the Broncs, 51.9 percent (27-52) to 40.4 percent (21-52), including a 52.0 percent (13-25) to 16.7 percent (2-12) edge from beyond the three-point arc.
- Stony Brook also enjoyed an 83.3 percent (5-6) to 57.9 percent (11-19) edge from the free-throw line.
- Stony Brook outrebounded the Broncs, 35-25.
- Rider took a 30-22 edge in points in the paint.
- Stony Brook outscored Rider, 19-9, on second chances.
- The Seawolves led for 35:04 of game time to the Broncs' 1:33 with a lead.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Friday, when they travel to Penn. Tipoff from The Palestra in Philadelphia is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.