Rider’s Powell warming up from 3-point line
LAWRENCEVILLE » Allen Powell knew it was only a matter of time until the ball started going through the hoop again.
If there was anything to come out of Rider’s 82-57 victory over Division III Gwynedd Mercy on Monday night it was that Powell connected on a season-high six 3s as part of a 22-point effort.
“You go through these type of things and you got to keep shooting your way out of it,” Powell said. “(Monday) was a good day to me and I’m happy to see some shots go in.”
Powell’s is an important part of what the Broncs want to do offensively because he’s really the only guy on the roster who you would consider a shooter. He shot 44% from beyond the arc in 23 games last season as a sophomore, although he hasn’t duplicated that success thus far.
Prior to Monday night’s 6-for-10 performance, Powell was shooting 28.7% from beyond the arc. While Gwynedd Mercy won’t be mistaken for anybody in the MAAC, Powell was still getting the same shots he has had all season.
“It’s good to see AP back making shots,” coach Kevin Baggett said. “I knew it was a matter of time. We’ve had enough time to rest, maybe too much. We were trying to get a little bit of the rust off of us, but I thought AP played really well. We count on him to do what he did (Monday night).”
Powell said the key to re-finding his shooting touch was getting in the gym with the coaches while the team was on break between games. Rider hadn’t played since Dec. 5 and had to pick up Gwynedd Mercy at the last minute after COVID problems at Rutgers forced the game scheduled for Dec. 18 to be canceled.
“Just having confidence,” Powell said. “Just go in there and play my game.”
That’s exactly what the Broncs need him to do because they rank last in the MAAC in 3-point percentage (28.7) and the offensive efficiency numbers (350th in effective FG%) are among the bottom tier of Division I.
If there’s a reason to be optimistic, all you have to do is look at Powell’s 2020-21 season. He shot 30% (9-for-30) from 3 in the first 12 games before hitting at 51.8% (28-for-54) over the last 11.
He may, then, just now be warming up.
“It’s confidence,” Powell said. “Just knowing that the next shot is going to go in if I did miss. Everything was falling, so it was a good thing.”
In addition to connecting on a season-best 13 treys, Monday night’s game also allowed Rider (4-8) to snap a four-game skid.
“We needed to get off the losing streak we were on and come together and understand that we played a tough schedule,” Baggett said. “I always say that falls on me for putting these guys in that position, but I appreciate these guys for continuing to move forward and rally and do the things we’re asking them to do in practice.”
Those things — read attention to details — have to show up in MAAC play in the New Year because the Broncs are already behind the 8-ball after dropping games to Iona and Marist.
“We got to play defense,” Powell said. “If we handle the defensive side, the offense will come by itself. When league play comes, you got to play defense.”
“The struggles that we went through are behind us,” Baggett said. “When it comes to conference play, they know us, we know them. We got great coaches in this league. Our league is really good. It’s really having a good year overall. We just got to understand that every game we go out, we’re going to play a tough opponent and we got to be ready.
Baggett said he won’t schedule another game between now and the team’s trip to Quinnipiac on Jan. 2.
Rider had originally been slated to play Rutgers last Saturday, but the game was called off due COVID issues within the Rutgers program. The teams were hoping to reschedule, but given the COVID concerns at Rutgers — it also postponed a game this week against Central Connecticut State — and the window to get the game in, it doesn’t appear that will happen this season.
“We’ll try and figure out if there is a place in January maybe for Rutgers, if we can find it,” Baggett said. “I know they have to get clearance through the Big Ten, but at this point, if we don’t play it this year, we’ll definitely play it next year.”
Rider and Rutgers were also supposed to play last season, but that game, too, had to be scrapped because of COVID.
Despite being separated by just 28 miles on Route 1, the two schools haven’t met since 2012.
This week’s cancellation of the Rutgers game also served as a reminder to remain vigilant against COVID, especially as the Omicron variant rips through the country and has caused a number of teams to either postpone or cancel games over the last week and a half.
“School is out now, so we don’t have as many students on campus and we’ll try and keep our guys on campus as much as possible outside of them going home for the holidays,” Baggett said. “We’ll remind them to wear their mask, clean your hands, stay out of big settings. I know it’s the holidays and it’s family time, but this thing is not getting any better, it’s only going to get worse. Just constant
reminders to not only think about themselves, but think about the team, think about families and think about trying to stay healthy as much as you can.”
Testing protocols vary widely by school. Some schools test multiple times per week, while others, like Rider, which is 100% vaccinated, only test when somebody among the Tier I personnel is feeling sick or exhibiting symptoms.
Dimencio Vaughn scored 15 points against Gwynedd Mercy to take him up to 17th place on the program’s all-time list with 1,395 career points.
He passed Mike Ringgold (1,386), Jack Cryan (1,387) and Ed Titus (1,390). Next on the list is Anthony Myles in 16th place with 1,417 points.