Scott, Rider rally for win, 3-0 MAAC start

The second half belonged to Rider, and in particular, Frederick Scott.

Scott scored all 22 of his points in the second half and the Broncs roared back from another doubledigit deficit to beat Canisius, 82-73, at the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday night.

The victory, coupled with Iona’s loss at Niagara, vaulted the Broncs (8-7, 3-0) into first place in the MAAC at this early stage. Rider has won three in a row.

“It was a tale of two halves and a tale of two teams,” coach Kevin Baggett said in his postgame radio interview. “Freddy couldn’t even inbound the ball at one time and he just looked like he was out of it. He wasn’t ready early on, but we talked to him at half ... and give Stevie (Jordan) and those guys credit because they stood outside and welcomed everybody and said ‘hey, let’s stay together, we’re going to be alright.’”

Once Scott, who only got four minutes in the first half, got rolling, the 6-8 redshirt sophomore couldn’t be stopped. He finished 7-for-9 from the field, and, more importantly, 8-for-11 from the foul line. With the game tied at 63 at the 3:11 mark, he made all three free throws to give Rider a lead it never relinquished.

The Broncs outscored the Golden Griffins, 52-32, in the second half. Their press made the difference, forcing Canisius into 19 turnovers that led to 25 points.

Rider finished 21-for-33 from the free throw line and connected on 11 of its last 13 attempts. It also piled up 48 more points in the paint (30 in the second half) to help offset a 1-for-15 night from beyond the arc. The Broncs are 7-for-40 on 3-pointers in their three MAAC games.

“We got to get Jordan Allen back and making shots,” Baggett said. “No teams are going to give him open looks. Whatever he gets, he’s got to understand where those shots are coming. Give our guys credit because it started with Tyere (Marshall) tonight, establishing the post and then we got in the lane and made some good things happen.”

Stevie Jordan and Anthony Durham both added 14 points each for Rider, which finishes up the Western N.Y. trip on Sunday afternoon against Niagara.

Also of note, Dimencio Vaughn returned after missing the last four games with an ankle injury. He came off the bench and scored four points in limited minutes.

Isaiah Reese scored 21 points for Canisius (5-10, 2-1).