Broncs lose Jordan to injury in loss at Iona
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. » As Stevie Jordan hobbled off the floor, all Rider could hope for is that this isn’t a cruel twist to a promising season.
With the star sophomore point guard watching from the bench with a bag of ice on his left ankle, the Broncs got blasted by Iona in the second half to the tune of a 91-64 setback on Sunday afternoon at the Hynes Athletic Center.
“We have other guys who can step up and are able to step up and have in the past,” Rider coach Kevin Baggett said. “I don’t think we did it today, but we’ve had other guys do that.”
Baggett said Jordan suffered a sprained left ankle after he landed awkwardly with 3:15 remaining in the first half. He had to be carried off the court by members of the Rider staff.
Jordan was in the midst of a fantastic game, having scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting at the time of his injury.
The Broncs trailed 3937 when he exited and only scored 27 points the remainder of the game.
“You lose a guy like that, and Stevie is a heck of a player,” Iona coach Tim Cluess said. “He was having a really terrific first half. He’s one of the energetic guys on their team and he’s a hard matchup.”
Rider went 1-3 during a four-game stretch without Jordan last season and lost to Robert Morris earlier this season when he didn’t suit up.
“Our mentality is nextman up,” Baggett said. “We’re not going to woe is me or worry about it. I love Stevie and I can’t wait to have him back, but that’s why you have other guys on the bench who are supposed to step up.”
That didn’t happen on Sunday, although it may not have mattered the way the Gaels (11-7, 5-1) scorched the net. Iona shot 58.2 percent from the field and finished with 16 made 3s at a 57.1 percent clip.
Five different Iona players all made at least two 3-pointers. Deyshonee Much and Jan Svandrlik had four apiece.
“We had to guard the 3-point better,” Rider guard Anthony Durham said. “Iona did a great job going 1-on-1 and we let our guys beat us. We’ll brush this one off and we’ll be ready for the next one.”
The Broncs (11-7, 4-2) had a four-game winning streak snapped and ended up with their lowest offensive output this season.
Rider managed 24 secondhalf points without Jordan on the floor. It shot 26.7 percent, missed all six 3-point attempts and went 2-for-14 from the line — at one point misfiring on nine consecutive free throws.
“It highlighted the fact that we didn’t execute today,” Baggett said. “We turned it over, we didn’t defend well enough and they played better than us.”
The Broncs return to action Thursday at Saint Peter’s.
“I just try to tell the young guys don’t get too high or too low,” Durham said. “We got a long season and a lot of games left. We got to learn from it and bounce back.”