Rider fades in 2nd half

When it rains, it pours. And for the Rider men’s basketball team it’s coming down in buckets.

The turnover-prone Broncs dropped their fourth straight and seventh in the last eight after they faded in the second half of a 66-52 loss to Saint Peter’s at the John J. Moore Athletic Center in Jersey City on Friday afternoon.

Rider (4-14, 4-11) was done in by 20 turnovers, many of them of the careless variety as the Peacocks (12-8, 9-6) used a 21-5 run midway through the second half to seize control.

“We’re very poor passing the ball,” Baggett said. “We’re not very good fundamentally.”

The Broncs actually led the game by one at halftime, but much like the first meeting last weekend at Quinnipiac, it got away from them when the ball started turning over and the defense fouled too much. SPU shot 21 of its 27 free throws in the second half.

“Things compound,” Baggett said. “It’s one mistake after the next. We never come up with the 50/50 balls and the next thing you know we foul a guy and give up an and-1. We never come up with those ball, and it’s been a consistent theme all year long.”

KC Ndefo scored a careerbest 22 points for the Peacocks, who pulled within a game of first place in the MAAC. SPU had 18 points off the 20 Rider turnovers and got 17 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds.

Dwight Murray Jr. paced the Broncs with 13 points, while Christian Ings and the returning Dontrell McQuarter had nine each.

TRENTON >> The Trenton High boys basketball team scored the first 21 points of Friday’s home game and never looked back, smothering Lawrence for a 65-39 win.

Davontay Hutson led with 21 points, Sean Corbin added 16 points and Davvonne Wells netted 14 points for the Tornadoes (9-2). The Cardinals (3-7) received nine points from Brandon Ford and eight points from Riley Cahill.

Trenton will likely be seeded either second or third in next week’s postseason pods when the CVC convenes on Saturday.

LAWRENCE (39)

Ford 9, Cahill 8, Bruestle 7, Barnes 5, Boiselle 4, Adamsky 2, Akheim 2, Mitchell-White 2.

Totals — 39.

TRENTON (65)

Hutson 7-6-21, Corbin 7-1-16, Wells 7-0-14, Oliver 2-0-5, Evans 2-0-4, Bridgett 1-1-4, Moore 0-1-1.

Totals — 26-9-65.

Lawrence (3-7) 2 8 18 11 — 39 Trenton (9-2) 21 11 16 17 — 65 3-point goals: Hutson, Corbin, Oliver, Bridgett (T).

PRINCETON 56, EWING 28 PRINCETON >>

The Tigers (25) pulled off a surprising blowout for their second victory behind 16 points from Ethan Guy and 11 points from Tim Evidente.

Marcus Beaubrun had seven points and Grady Griffin added five points for Ewing (4-8).

EWING (28)

Beaubrun 2-3-7, Griffin 2-1-5, Jenkins 1-13, Preston 1-0-3, Morgan 2-0-4. Totals — 8-5-28.

PRINCETON (56)

E. Guy 7-1-16, Evidente 5-1-11, Petrone 3-1-7, Johnson 3-0-6, Curren 3-0-6, Reardon 1-0-2, R. Guy 1-0-2, Maxwell 1-0-2. Totals — 24-3-56.

Ewing (4-8) 9 9 1 9 — 28 Princeton (2-5) 10 14 10 16 — 56 3-point goals: Forrest, Preston (E), E. Guy (P).