Rider 76, Wagner 71

Men’s College Basketball

Rider University 76, Wagner College 71

STATEN ISLAND, NY—The Wagner campus, built on the former Cunard, Ward and Vanderbilt estates, is 105 acres on a hill with commanding views of New York harbor, the Verrazano Bridge, Downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.

Rider’s view of what lies ahead in 2015 became just as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, after a third straight victory put Rider over the .500 mark going into the New Year.

Sophomore Jimmie Taylor (Branford, Fla./Suwannee) scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Rider (7-6) to victory at Wagner (2-9) Monday night.

“Jimmie was very aggressive tonight, which is what we needed,” said Rider head coach Kevin Baggett.  “He hit some big shots for us.”

“Coach is always telling me to be more aggressive,” said Taylor, “and that is what I tried to do tonight.”

Also for Rider, senior Matt Lopez (Erial, NJ/Washington Twp.) compiled 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, his second consecutive ‘double-double.’  “That’s a good sign, seeing Matt rebound like that,” Baggett said.

Rider junior Zedric Sadler (Detroit, Mich./Cody) added 17 points, making a career-high five three-pointers. “Zed shot the ball well tonight,” Baggett said.

Holding a 54-49 lead, Rider went on a 9-4 run to take a 63-53 lead with 3:49 left to play.

Consecutive three-pointers by Sadler gave Rider a 42-32 lead with 15:30 left to play.

The host Seahawks out-scored Rider 11-1, with Romone Saunders making his second four-point play of the game, to cut the Rider lead to 69-66 with 1:45 remaining. “We didn’t play well going down the stretch,” Baggett said. “I’ve never seen a player get two four-point plays in a game before, and I hope I never see it again.”

Saunders finished with 20 points.

Wagner scored the first seven points of the second half, four by Marcus Burton, to cut the Rider lead to 36-32 with 18:15 remaining. Burton finished with 15 points.

Rider out-scored Wagner 10-2 over the final 2:24 of the first half, six points by Taylor, to take a 36-25 lead at the half.

Rider used an 11-5 run to take a 20-13 lead with 7:29 left in the first half.

Rider has now won five of its last six games.

The Broncs finish the non-conference portion of the schedule 6-5 and resume Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play on January 2 in Poughkeepsie, NY, taking on Marist.

“I’m excited about getting back into league play,” Baggett said.  ““I like where we are heading.”

The view heading to Poughkeepsie is looking pretty good right now.

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