With March around the corner, locals in contention
Now that the Super Bowl has ended — sorry Eagles fans! — and the calendar reads mid-February that means one thing for area basketball fans.
March is right around the corner. With that comes March Madness and the way things are shaping up in Mercer County it could be a fruitful month.
Here’s what you need to know: The Rider men are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, the longest since the 2017-18 team ripped off 10 in a row on its way to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Coach Kevin Baggett’s side began this run with an 18-point comeback at Iona, a stunning victory courtesy of a Dwight Murray Jr. 3-pointer that snapped the Gaels’ 21-game home winning streak. The Broncs followed that with a pair of victories over Niagara and Manhattan by a combined five points and then a road sweep of Marist and Fairfield. They blew out Saint Peter’s at home, went wireto-wire at Manhattan and picked up the eighth win thanks to Allen Powell’s shot with seven seconds remaining to complete a season sweep of Fairfield.
Next up for Rider (14-9, 11-3) is a tougher-than-it-looks tilt against Canisius (6-18, 4-11) on Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium. Seven of the last 10 meetings with the Golden Griffins have been decided by three points or less, including a 66-64 Broncs victory on Dec. 31.
The top three in the MAAC — Rider, Iona (18-7, 11-3) and Siena (17-9, 11-4) — have separated themselves from the rest of the pack and look likely to be the top three seeds in Atlantic City in some order. If the Broncs win all six of their remaining
games, which includes home dates against the Saints (Feb. 24) and Gaels (March 4 finale), they will win the regular-season title.
That’s a big if, of course, but there wouldn’t be one Rider fan who wouldn’t have signed to be in this position in mid-February.
Six miles north on Route 206, Princeton (16-7, 7-3) is about to embark on the most important weekend of its season.
The Tigers are tied for first in the Ivy League with Yale after a disappointing second-half performance in a loss to Dartmouth last time out dropped them from sole possession of the top spot. They welcome Brown (13-10, 6-4) on Friday night and Yale (17-6, 7-3) on Saturday to Jadwin Gymnasium.
Remember, only the top four teams qualify for the Ivy tournament, so while Princeton is still in good shape — it has three of its final four at home and is two games up over fifth-place Cornell (with a sweep) — there’s not doubt Mitch Henderson’s side wants to avenge a pair of earlier losses to the Bears and Bulldogs.
The good news for the Tigers is Tosan Evbuomwan is back to being the dominating force that earned him unanimous Ivy Player of the Year last season. The senior from Newcastle, England is averaging 20 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists
over the last six games.
With Rutgers (16-9, 8-6 Big Ten) looking likely to get a third straight NCAA Tournament bid, Seton Hall (15-11, 8-7 Big East) on the bubble and Fairleigh Dickinson (15-12, 8-4 NEC) in contention in its conference, an unprecedented five dance tickets for New Jersey could be handed out.
Stay tuned!
On the women’s side, Princeton (17-5, 8-2) has restored order after two early hiccups in the league. Led by dynamic point guard Kaitlyn Chen (14.1 points, 4.4 assists), Carla Berube’s team has won nine straight to pull into a first-place tie with Columbia.
The Tigers and Lions (19-4, 8-2) split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning on the road, and the race for the regular-season title looks like it will go down to the last game.
What about a two-bid Ivy? Both have top-50 Net Rankings (Columbia 37; Princeton 50) and ESPNW bracketologist Charlie Creme has Columbia slotted in as an 11 seed and the automatic qualifier, while Princeton is one of his first four out.