NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Zion Cruz (Trenton, NJ/Donda [DePaul/Pratt CC]) matched his career high with 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead six Broncs in double figures as the Rider University men's basketball team picked up a huge road win at Merrimack, 83-78, Friday night at Lawler Arena. With the win, the Broncs improve to 11-18 (7-11 MAAC), while the Warriors fall to 15-14 (12-6 MAAC).

Both teams were red hot shooting in the first half, with the Warriors hitting 65.4 percent (17-26) to the Broncs' 53.1 percent (17-32). The Broncs immediately jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the early going and later twice built a six-point cushion, the second on a Jay Alvarez (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area [Houston Christian]) putback despite playing with just one sneaker at the 9:11 mark. But Merrimack responded with a 9-0 run to retake the lead, which it would later push to six with a 9-2 run capped by a Matt Becht triple with 1:45 left in the half.
 
Cruz and Alvarez finished inside on the final two Broncs possessions of the half to cut the deficit to 42-40 after 20 minutes. Cruz led Rider with 12 points in the first half, while T.J. Weeks Jr. (Warwick, RI/Bishop Hendricken Catholic [UMass]) added 11.

Cruz and Flash Burton (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) scored consecutive buckets to open the second-half scoring and the Broncs retook the lead, 44-42. Four lead changes and two ties later, the Broncs went on an 11-1 run to take a 66-60 advantage on a second-chance bucket from Cruz with 9:44 remaining and never trailed again. Ife West-Ingram (Philadelphia, PA/Abington Friends) checked in for the first time in the game at the 14:41 mark, had an assist 30 seconds later and went on to score all of his 10 points in the second half, including five in the pivotal run and three more in the final 53 seconds to hold off the Warriors.

Merrimack twice pulled to within one in the final four minutes, including a Budd Clark three-pointer with 1:15 remaining before West-Ingram got position inside and finished with 53 seconds left. Rider made 5-of-6 free-throw attempts in the final 42 seconds of regulation, including 2-for-2 from Ruben Rodriguez (Reading, PA/Reading) and Cruz and 1-for-2 from West-Ingram to put the game away.   

Quotes & Notes
"All the credit goes to our guys, first of all. Man, I thought our guys battled the whole game. I thought they prepared well this week. That was a big win for a number of different reasons, so all the credit goes to those guys."

(On contributions from Ruben Rodriguez and Ife West-Ingram) "Guys just need to be ready. They never know when their name's going to get called. Ruben went through some struggles. Of late, he's playing really well. Ife didn't play the first half and then the second half, we go there and he was ready to produce and help us. He got some big rebounds late and early and some good baskets, a couple of and one's and made three out of four of his free throws and all were needed."

(On the rest of the schedule) "It's great that we have two home games. We have to be ready to try and win this next game. No let downs. Obviously every game now is important. And what better way to hopefully have our fans out there to support us down the stretch to help us make this run and hopefully get within the top 10 to get to Atlantic City." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Six Broncs scored in double figures in the same game for the first time since Nov. 6, 2023, against Immaculata. Rider accomplished the feat for the first time against a Division I opponent since Dec. 3, 2019, against Bucknell. Rider had six in double figures three times in calendar year 2019, with two coming in January 2019 at Niagara (Jan. 13, 2019) and against Marist (Jan. 27, 2019).
- Rider won a game while allowing more than 71 points for just the second time this season (90-79 at Navy, Nov. 12).
- Each team took the road contest in this year's series between Rider and Merrimack, the first meetings between the two programs.
- With the win, the Broncs took a step toward qualifying for the MAAC Championships, which will take just 10 of 13 teams this season. Rider (7-11 MAAC) now stands two games up in the win column over Saint Peter's (5-12 MAAC) and Niagara (5-12 MAAC). The Peacocks (at Marist) and Purple Eagles (home vs. Manhattan) will each get a shot at gaining ground Sunday with the Broncs idle.
- The Broncs won their eighth road game of the season, moving to 8-11 in 19 games away from home.
- Rider is now 7-5 this season in games decided by five points or fewer and improved to 5-5 in MAAC games decided by five or fewer.
- 11 of Rider's 18 MAAC games have been within one possession in the final minute, with the Broncs posting a 5-6 record in those contests.
- Rider trailed, 42-40, at the half. The win was just the Broncs third in 18 tries in 2024-25 when coming out of the locker room at halftime with a deficit.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Cruz matched his season and career high of 23 points (Jan. 10 at Canisius). He made 9-of-10 attempts from the floor, including all six inside the three-point arc and 3-of-4 beyond it. He also made both of his free-throw attempts, grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists.
- Weeks Jr. narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. He made 5-of-11 attempts, including 2-for-4 from long range, while also making 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
- Rodriguez scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 2-for-4 from long range, to go along with 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. His three-pointer at the 3:30 mark of the second pushed Rider's lead from one to four. He added four assists and three steals.
- Tariq Ingraham (Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast [Wake Forest]) added 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds.
- Alvarez and West-Ingram added 10 points apiece, with Alvarez grabbing five rebounds and West-Ingram contributed four boards. Both added two assists.
- West-Ingram was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, while making 4-of-5 free-throw attempts.
- Rider shot a season-high 56.1 percent (32-57), eclipsing identical 52.9 percent (27-51) efforts at Navy (Nov. 12) and vs. Saint Peter's (Jan. 31). Merrimack countered with 49.2 percent shooting, but was held to just 37.8 percent (14-37) in the final 20 minutes after shooting 65.4 percent (17-26) in the first half.
- Rider took advantages of 53.8 percent (7-13) to 38.7 percent (12-31) from long range and 70.6 percent (12-17) to 44.4 percent (4-9) from the free-throw line.
- Rider outrebounded Merrimack, 37-25, including a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass.
- Rider's bench outscored that of Merrimack, 20-15.    
- The Broncs led for 20:50 of game time to the Warriors' 12:33 with a lead.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Thursday night, March 6, when they play host to Canisius. Tipoff from Alumni Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.