FAIRFIELD, CT – The Rider University men's basketball team erased a 14-point second-half deficit with a 17-2 run, but the Broncs were edged by Fairfield, 78-75, in the MAAC opener Wednesday night at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 4-5 (0-1 MAAC), while the Stags improve to 5-4 (1-0 MAAC). Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) posted his second-straight double-double with a career-high 21 points and T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) matched him with a season-high 21 points.

Rider scored seven of the first 10 points to establish an early lead and continued to lead by four after two Ingraham free throws less than four minutes in. The teams exchanged 7-0 runs to knot the game at 21-21, before two Louis Bleechmore three-pointers gave Fairfield its largest lead of the half, 32-25. Rider would score four of the final six points in the half to cut the deficit to five, 39-34, at halftime. Weeks Jr. led the Broncs with 13 first-half points, while Ingraham and Ife West-Ingram (Philadelphia, PA/Abington Friends) added six points apiece. Fairfield did much of its damage from long range, making 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.

The Broncs closed to within two, 42-40, on Ingraham's second-chance bucket at the 17:45 mark. But Fairfield scored 17 of the next 22 points, including three-straight dunks and a fast-break lay-up to extend to a 14-point lead with just over 11 minutes left. Still a 14-point Fairfield cushion with just over seven minutes remaining, the Broncs went on a 17-2 run to take a 68-67 lead on Ingraham's putback while being fouled with 3:55 left. Weeks Jr. sparked the run with eight points, including consecutive three-pointers.

Fairfield retook the lead three times in next two minutes, before Zion Cruz (Trenton, NJ/Donda [DePaul/Pratt CC]) made 1-of-2 free throws with 14.6 seconds left to tie the game at 75-75. The Broncs forced a Johnson miss on the Stags initial shot at a game winner in the final seconds, but Peyton Smith tipped it in for the game winner with 1.6 seconds left. The Broncs were called for a travel attempting a full-court heave and Fairfield made a free throw on the resulting possession to account for the final 78-75 score.

Quotes & Notes
"Difference in the game was free-throw line and poor turnovers at inopportune times. Those are the two things it came down to tonight."

"We needed to be more aggressive. We needed to stop taking so many jump shots and make teams guard us and keep us in front. We have to make guys guard us. Guys are driving by us and so I thought offensively, we should be doing the same. And I thought we did a better job. Give our guys credit for coming back into the game. But you've got to make free throws and that game should've never been that way had we started and played that way the entire game." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- The Stags won both meetings last season and extended to a three-game winning streak to push their lead in the series to 40-36 over the Broncs.
- Rider is 12-13 against Fairfield under Head Coach Kevin Baggett, including a 7-7 mark on the Stags' home courts.
- Rider is now 15-13 all-time in MAAC openers, including a 7-6 mark under Baggett.
- Rider saw its six-game streak of outrebounding its opponent snapped, with Fairfield taking a 39-29 edge on the glass.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Ingraham made 7-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line for his career-high 21 points, eclipsing the 20 points he scored on March 2, 2023, at Saint Peter's. He grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds, with seven each on the offensive and defensive glass, while also adding two assists.
- Weeks Jr. also scored a season-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-8 from long range, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also added two steals and two blocked shots.
- West-Ingram also finished in double figures with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
- Cruz chipped in with eight points on 3-of-5 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He added two assists and two steals.
- Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) had seven points on 2-for-3 shooting, including a conversion on his only three-point attempt. He also made both of his free-throw attempts.
- Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) contributed six points on 2-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. He also had two assists and a block.
- Ruben Rodriguez (Reading, PA/Reading) added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- Rider took a 49.1 percent (27-55) to 48.4 percent (30-62) edge shooting from the floor.
- Fairfield outshot the Broncs, 50.0 percent (9-18) to 35.7 percent (5-14) from beyond the three-point arc and 64.3 percent (9-14) to 61.5 percent (16-26) from the free-throw line.
- The Broncs took scoring advantages of 18-12 off turnovers, 40-36 in the paint and 16-12 on second chances.  
- Rider's bench edged that of Fairfield in scoring, 16-15.
- The Stags took a 16-13 edge in fast-break scoring.
- Fairfield led for 30:44 of game time to Rider's 6:01 with a lead.
 
Up Next
The Broncs return to action Friday, when they play host to preseason MAAC favorite Quinnipiac. Tipoff from Alumni Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.