Rider goes up against Siena’s perfect home record in primetime
LAWRENCEVILLE » Dimencio Vaughn knows that good teams find ways to get themselves out of trouble when there is a lull in the season.
Rider’s redshirt junior forward thinks his team has done just that as it prepares for a huge Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Siena on Friday night (9 p.m., ESPNU).
The Broncs (14-9, 8-5) have won five of the last six since returning from a trip in which they were swept in Western New York and dropped below .500 in league play. Now, they go to Albany for a primetime showdown as the co-leader in a tight MAAC race.
“Guys are starting to pull through it,” said Vaughn, who is building a Player of the Year resume by averaging 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and shooting 45.6% from 3. “That’s what good teams do.”
This, however, may be Rider’s
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL biggest test to date. Siena (1110, 7-5) is a half game back in the standings, but has a perfect 10-0 record inside the TU Center. The Saints are one of 18 remaining teams with an unblemished home mark.
Throw in the the Albany factor — Rider hasn’t beaten Siena there since 2012 and was knocked out of the MAAC Tournament in the quarterfinals by the Saints last season in a game in which the home side shot 17for-21 in the second half — and the Broncs are really up against it.
“We have to treat it like another game and take our time with it,” Vaughn said. “There shouldn’t be any pressure on us. We got to go in and do what we got to do, and not beat ourselves.”
Composure in front of a hostile crowd that is sure to be juiced up with the late tip-off will be key. There’s certainly no love lost between the teams. Rider’s Frederick Scott and Siena’s Gary Harris Jr. were both ejected late in the Broncs’ win in Lawrenceville for a scuffle. The last time these two teams met in the regular season in Albany was the ShakeGate Game.
“That’s not the mentality that we’re going in there with,”
Vaughn said. “We’re trying to get a ‘W’ and come home. Whatever happened in the past, we can’t hold that as a grudge forever. It’s basketball, you got to get over it.”