NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) scored a game-high 18 points and Tank Byard (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City [Alcorn State]) added seven of his season-high 12 points in the final 1:10 of regulation as the Rider University men's basketball team earned a 68-65 road win at Niagara Sunday afternoon at the Gallagher Center. With the win, the Broncs (5-11, 1-4 MAAC) snapped a nine-game losing skid. The Purple Eagles fall to 7-9 (2-3 MAAC) with the loss.

Niagara came out red hot from long range, with Olumide Adelodun making three-straight triples to open the scoring and Zion Russell adding another to give the Purple Eagles a 13-6 lead less than five minutes in. Rider responded with an 11-0 run, capped by a Weeks Jr. three-pointer from the right corner at the 10:54 mark.

The Purple Eagles scored six of the next eight to tie the game and briefly took the lead, 22-21, at the 7:20 mark, before the Broncs again went running, this time with a 10-0 spurt capped by a Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) triple to put the Broncs on top, 31-22, with four minutes left in the period. Rider would settle for a seven-point cushion, 33-26, at the break, with Weeks Jr. (10 points) and Alvarez (8 points) leading the Broncs in the scoring column after 20 minutes. 

Rider led by nine following Weeks Jr.'s three-pointer at the 16:12 mark, but Niagara scored 10 of the next 12 points to shave the Broncs' lead to one, 43-42, at the 12:40 mark and retook the lead, 48-47, on a Josiah Davis lay-up with just over 10 minutes left in regulation. The Broncs retook the lead on a Zion Cruz (Trenton, NJ/Donda [DePaul/Pratt CC]) lay-up at the 9:22 mark and Niagara's only other lead came on a three-pointer from Adelodun to put the Purple Eagles up, 54-53, with 5:32 left. But Andre Young (Mableton, GA/Pebblebrook [Troy/Gulf Coast State Coll.]) and Weeks Jr. hit consecutive three's to put Rider back on top by five.

Niagara still wouldn't go away, scoring five-straight to tie the game at 61-61 on a Justice Smith drive with 1:36 remaining. But Byard got inside for a conventional three-point play with 1:10 remaining to give Rider the lead for good. Byard went on to make four more pivotal free throws in the final 23 seconds and scored the Broncs' final seven points to help Rider close out the victory.  

Quotes & Notes
"It was great man. Great seeing the energy, great seeing the grit. All the credit goes to the players. It's all about them. The energy they displayed, the battle they displayed. Obviously, Niagara is a tough out, especially at home. To find a way to win is just a relief to exhale for a day."

"We've said it for the longest time. We've not been down. I know we've been struggling to get this win and get off this losing streak. But we never thought that we were out of it or that we're not good enough to compete in this league or be a good team in this league. We just needed to get off that losing streak. Things that could go wrong did go wrong. Sometimes when you're in a losing way, losing things tend to happen to you. Today, we made the big plays, got the big rebounds, made big free throws that we needed and had to have them. Tank Byard comes up with big free throws. It was just a team effort. From start-to-finish, you could hear everybody on the bench – the players, the coaches, managers, athletic trainer… everybody. Everybody was in it." – Rider Men's Basketball Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Rider leads the all-time series with Niagara, 33-26, including the last two, both in Western New York.
- All five of Rider's wins this season have come on the road in 12 chances.
- Rider's five wins are the most in the nation by programs that have played 12 or more games away from home this season, ahead of Southern University and South Carolina State, each at 4-8, Bethune Cookman (3-9), Fairleigh Dickinson (2-10) and eight others that have compiled either one or zero road wins in 12 or 13 attempts.  
- The win snapped the a nine-game skid, tied with the 1943-44 and 1988-89 teams for longest losing streaks in single-season program history. The last time the Broncs had lost as many as eight straight prior to this season came in the final seven games of 2005-06 and the 2006-07 opener.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Weeks Jr. scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from long range. He also went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, made two steals and grabbed two rebounds.
- Alvarez added 13 points on 3-of-8 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
- Byard went for 12 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot. He made 3-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
- Byard eclipsed his previous season high of eight points on Jan. 5 vs. Manhattan. Through six games played in 2024-25, he'd scored just six total points, two each against San Diego, Coppin State and Iowa. In his last five games played, he's scored 29 points.
- Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) added eight points on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in 22 minutes before fouling out. He added a team-high six rebounds.
- Ruben Rodriguez (Reading, PA/Reading) had a devil of a game with a career-high six assists to go along with six points and six rebounds. He also made a season-high three steals.
- Cruz added six points, four assists and three rebounds.
- Niagara outshot the Broncs, 52.0 percent (26-50) to 42.3 percent (22-52) from the floor.
- Rider took a 38.9 percent (7-18) to 36.8 percent (7-19) edge from beyond the three-point arc.
- The Broncs also enjoyed an 89.5 percent (17-19) to 60.0 percent (6-10) edge from the free-throw line.
- Rider outrebounded Niagara, 31-29, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive boards.
- Niagara took a 34-22 edge in points in the paint.
- The Broncs outscored Niagara, 20-8, on fast breaks.
- Rider led for 27:55 of game time to Niagara's 9:28 with a lead.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Thursday, when they play host to Mount St. Mary's. Tip-off from Alumni Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.