POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as the Rider University men's basketball team handed league-leading Marist its first loss of the season, 64-57, Saturday night at McCann Arena. The Broncs' third-straight win pushed Rider's record to 7-11 (3-4 MAAC), while snapping Marist's (13-3, 6-1 MAAC) nine-game winning streak.

After Marist built a 13-7 lead by the 10:48 mark, the Broncs scored 13 of the next 15 points to build a five-point lead, 20-15. T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) sparked the run with a three and two free throws, while Burton added four points on a pull-up jumper and two free throws. The teams continued to trade buckets for the remainder of the period, with Weeks Jr. closing the scoring with a triple with less than a minute remaining to give Rider a 29-22 lead at the break. Weeks Jr. led Rider with 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.

After a pair of Tank Byard (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City [Alcorn State]) free throws at the 17:08 mark put the Broncs on top by 10, 34-24, the Red Foxes rattled off a 14-2 run to take a 38-36 lead at the 13-minute mark. Rider immediately tied the game at 38-38 and, after Marist retook a 40-38 lead, Rider got a Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) three-point play to retake the lead and never trailed again. Marist again tied the game at 47-47 on a Josh Pascarelli three-pointer with 7:20 remaining. But two Ingraham free throws put the Broncs on top and they'd lead for the remainder of the game.

An 8-0 Rider run capped by a fast-break dunk, a three-pointer and a free throw from Burton put the game out of reach, pushing the lead to 61-51 with 43 seconds left. Marist would draw no closer than the final seven-point deficit.

Quotes & Notes
"We just stayed with it. We knew it was going to be a game of runs. We talked to our team about it all day. We just said, 'the tougher team is going to win.' I thought our guys made tough plays, diving on loose balls, blocking out, making tough And 1 shots when we needed them. I know (Marist) got up for a minute, but we never rattled. We just stayed together today, man."

(On Flash Burton) "He's no longer a freshman. I've been reminding him of that. He's a talented young man. He's gotten better defensively, which is what he needed to work on. He could always score the ball. He's a talent for us." – Rider Men's Basketball Head Coach Kevin Baggett

"It kind of switched. Once we played Niagara and we had energy for Niagara, I don't think we're ever going to let that energy go."

- Rider is 6-0 this season when holding the opposition to fewer than 72 points.
- Rider leads the all-time series with Marist, 43-28. The Broncs have dominated the series with the Red Foxes over the last 17 years to the tune of a 28-7 mark against Marist dating back to the 2007-08 season. However, the Red Foxes swept last year's season series with a pair of double-digit victories.
- The Broncs are now 19-6 against Marist under Head Coach Kevin Baggett, including a 10-2 mark at McCann Arena.
- The win was the 199^th of Baggett's 13-year head coaching career, all at Rider.
- Six of Rider's seven wins this season have come on the road. The six wins are most in the nation among Division I teams that have played 12 or more road games.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Burton scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-11 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from long range, to go along with 5-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line. He also made a pair of steals and blocked a shot.
- The 21 points eclipsed Burton's previous career high of 16 at Navy on Nov. 12.
- Weeks Jr. and Ingraham also scored in double figures with 13 points apiece.
- Ingraham completed a double-double, his fourth of the year, with 10 rebounds. He made 5-of-9 attempts from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
- Weeks made 4-of-12 attempts, including 2-of-4 from long range, while also making all three of his free-throw attempts. He also grabbed five rebounds.  
- Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, easily eclipsing his prior career high of nine last season at Houston Christian and his season high of eight at NC State (Dec. 22). 13 of the 15 came on the defensive glass.
- Zion Cruz (Trenton, NJ/Donda [DePaul/Pratt CC]) added nine points and six rebounds.
- The Broncs outshot the Red Foxes, 35.6 percent (21-59) to 33.9 percent (21-62), from the floor, including a 33.3 percent (4-12) to 21.4 percent (6-28) edge from beyond the three-point arc.
- Rider also took a 78.3 percent (18-23) to 69.2 percent (9-13) edge from the free-throw line.
- Rider outrebounded Marist, 44-37.
- Buoyed by Burton's performance, Rider's bench outscored that of Marist, 25-13.
- The Broncs also took a 14-8 edge in second-chance points.
- Rider led for 24:59 of game time to Marist's 10:00 with a lead.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Thursday, when they play host to Iona. Opening tip from Alumni Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.