Rider steals one from Fairfield
Rider flat out FAIRFIELD, CONN. >> stole one.
And that won’t matter to Kevin Baggett and company.
Tyere Marshall scored with 5.9 seconds left and the Broncs rallied from a halftime deficit for the first time this year and stunned Fairfield, 83-82, in the MAAC opener for both teams on Thursday night at Alumni Hall.
Rider (6-7, 1-0) led for just two total minutes. So, yes, that Marshall basket off a nice feed from Stevie Jordan was the team’s first lead since tallying the game’s first two points.
“I thought about the one I missed against Cal State (Northridge) right after I made it,” Marshall said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about that one when I missed it. That was good for the confidence.”
Baggett opted not to call timeout after Broncs got the ball back down one even though they had missed their first four shots at taking the lead. They went to their base fourout, one-in offense and Jordan slipped a pass to an open Marshall.
“Stevie did a great job of coming off and seeing that,” Marshall said. “That was his vision. That was big to see that. He threw a great pass and I finished it.”
Marshall shook off a rough start to finish with 12 points and eight rebounds.
“We need (Tyere) to be good and finish around the basket,” Baggett said. “He was out of sorts today, and I don’t know why, but give him credit for staying with it and rooting his team on while he was sitting on the bench. Sometimes you got to see it, and then go back out there and execute.”
That Rider even had a chance to win is a credit to the secondhalf defense after the Stags (3-10, 0-1) picked it apart for 49 first-half points. The Broncs trailed by 17 early in the second half and then again by 12 before finishing on a 15-2 run. What sparked the comeback? “Guys heart,” Baggett said. “Guys never gave up. A couple guys struggled early and never gave up. It started with Kimar Williams and Stevie Jordan getting after their guards . ... Once we were able to force the guards out of rhythm a little bit we made it harder to find open shots.”
Still, the comeback was no sure thing for a team reeling on the end of a long road trip and a little short on confidence.
“I was concerned the way that we were giving up too many open 3s the last two games,” Baggett said. “We’re rattled a little bit (with) our confidence after these tough losses we’ve had of late. We’ve got to get some other guys playing better, but give the guys credit who got in and helped us win tonight.”
For the most part that was the foursome of Jordan, Williams, Anthony Durham and Frederick Scott. That group played nearly the entire half with Jordan, Williams and Durham all logging over 33 minutes.
Jordan finished with a team-high 19 points, Williams added 16 and Scott became the first Rider player to record a double-double this season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“Our defensive intensity picked up,” Williams said. “We said we were going to come together and get a win and just lock down on the defensive end. It was less of the coaches and more of the players. We came together as a team and said we were going to locked down.”
Scott’s 3-pointer with 4:09 left drew the Broncs within 80-77 and after the teams traded baskets, Marshall converted in close to make it 82-81 at the 3:12 mark.
Neither team could find the goal again until Marshall scored with 5.9 seconds left.
Landon Taliaferro netted a career-high 29 points and made a career-best eight 3-pointers for the Stags, who carved up the Broncs to the tune of 57.1 percent shooting for the game. Jonathan Kasibabu finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Yet Rider walked out of Alumni Hall with its first MAAC openingnight win in four seasons.
“I’m not down on our guys,” Baggett said. “We just got to get some confidence . ... That comes with all the travel and the losses and close losses that we’ve had. We played four top-100 team and we thought we should win some of those. Our confidence is rattled a little bit, but we just got to rally and guys got to stay together and trust one another.”