Rider hosted Iona Thursday night in Lawrenceville, N.J., falling to the Gaels 73-67. It was looking very promising for Rider as the Broncs were on a three-game winning streak coming into this game after overcoming a shocking nine-game losing streak. With the loss, Rider drops to 7-12 on the season and 3-5 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), good enough for ninth place, while Iona is fifth in the MAAC standings and is now 7-12 as well on the season.
Iona set the tone early in the game with their high court pressuring Rider’s inbounds, which caused many turnover problems for the Broncs. Coming into the game, the Gaels were ranked third in the NCAA for most turnovers caused, and they surely showed why against Rider.
It was a tight back-and-forth game between the two teams as the largest lead in the first half was seven points at 21-14 in favor of Iona roughly halfway through the middle of the first period. Whenever Iona extended their lead by just a bit, Rider always seemed to have the answer to catch up. This was thanks to senior Jay Alvarez, who came into this game having scored his team’s highest single game point total of 23, and broke that in two quarters, recording his highest point game of the season with 28 points and led in points for both teams on the night. Alvarez played 39 minutes on the night, being the most on the team, and recorded 28 points while also contributing 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and snatching 2 steals.
Tariq Ingraham was the second-highest scorer on the night for Rider, dropping 15 points and helping contribute with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. T.J Weeks Jr. followed it up with 13 points on the night.
Baskets came left and right in the second half of the match-up. After every basket made by either team, it was followed up on the very next drive. Again, Ionas’ fast defensive transitions and high pressuring caused many problems for Rider as they gave the ball away easily or, at some times, were forced to take timeouts from all of their players being marked up by the Iona players and not finding a way to get the ball down the court fast enough. The final minutes of the shot clock came down to the wire as the scoreboard was looking in anyone’s favor.
Rider was down by two, seconds before the final buzzer after an and-one from Jay Alvarez closing the score down 69-67. After gaining possession back from a missed shot by Iona, Rider had the opportunity to either tie the game or end it off with a three by draining the clock down with only 25 seconds left. Instead, Rider unluckily turned the ball over, leading to a straight dunk in favor of Iona to wind down the clock with the final free throws of the match.
Adam Njie Jr. led the Iona Gaels in points, dropping 23 on the night, while Clarence Rupert, Justin Menard, and Dejour Reaves combined for a total of 29 points. Iona will be back with more basketball showdowns, hoping to extend their win streak on Saturday, hosting Siena.
Rider will look to bounce back on Saturday as well, traveling on the road against a strong Quinnipiac side who currently sit (11-8) on their season and are 7-1 in their conference.
