Rider’s timely surge has Broncs positioned as MAAC tournament sleeper, despite Kevin Baggett feeling his team is capable of more. (Photo by The Rider News)
The third-to-last MAAC Monday of the season casts the spotlight on the third of the New Jersey schools before refreshing stat leaders and power rankings, one whose relative youth last season set the stage for a year marked by continued growth and a step back to where the program has grown accustomed to being.
In Kevin Baggett’s decade at Rider, the Broncs have usually been a consistent mainstay in or near the top half of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, despite never having advanced past the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament in his tenure. And after having one of the youngest teams in the nation a year ago, Rider has navigated the pandemic and gotten back to developing a roster with tremendous upside, having won four of five before missteps this past weekend at Monmouth and Manhattan.
“This team here, we gel a lot better than we did last year. Corey (McKeithan) is a big person to come off the bench for me or (Allen Powell), we have a lot more scoring than we did last year, and we play great defense. I feel like we’re a team that’s still working.”
The return of Dimencio Vaughn as a graduate transfer has gone a long way toward shoring up the depth, as has the arrival of South Alabama transfer Mervin James. Those two, along with Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, have become more integral to Rider’s operation this year after Tyrel Bladen went down in the preseason with a torn ACL, forcing Baggett to restructure his rotation.
“I wish we had ’Rel,” Baggett lamented. “We’re really struggling in the post, and we’re struggling of late. Those guys have done a good job, but we need some help down there. That’s where Nehemiah (Benson)’s helped us some, but we need some more presence down there. I think Ajiri’s kind of hitting a wall, and I’m concerned for him. I don’t think he’s playing well of late.”
“They’ve meant a lot to us, even when Tyrel wasn’t hurt,” Murray said of Vaughn, James and Ogemuno-Johnson. “But when he got hurt, it was hard for us because Mervin came in about to play the three and the four, and he has to move to the five when Ajiri’s out. At the end of the day, I think that was the problem for us at the beginning. People didn’t like the position they had to play, but when we found out, everybody rose and started playing together.”
Still, while Murray believes Rider has yet to peak, his coach was quick to point out tactical flaws and crucial mistakes that could loom large going into Atlantic City, where Rider hopes to play spoiler.
“I’m not happy, man,” Baggett stated with regard to his team’s performance. “We just continue to give games away down the stretch and play not nearly as good as I hope. It’s disappointing, and at this time of year, we’ve played teams that got up in us before and we figured it out.”
His counterpart Friday night, however, was more bullish on the Broncs’ chances, dismissing the struggles as Rider simply needing time to work out the kinks.
“Sometimes it just takes time for things to work right,” Monmouth head coach King Rice assessed. “I saw them early at Bucknell and I called Kevin, and we just rapped about some things. Everybody was new and they weren’t together yet, and now just watching them mesh on the court, I think they’re starting to believe in each other right now. Maybe they should have earlier, but you never know with kids. It just takes time sometimes, and right now, they’re playing pretty good basketball.”
“That team can beat anybody,” he elaborated. “You better catch them on a night when you’re playing well and maybe they have an off night. They have veterans, they can out-tough you, they can outboard you, they could get rolling on offense and they can stop you. I’m anxious to continue to watch them, I’m going to see them the last game of the season, but Rider is a problem. They’re going to go to this tournament and nobody’s going to want to play them because they’ve got a lot of guys over there. It hasn’t gone their way early, it’s starting to look like it’s going their way now.”
Scoring Leaders
1) Jose Perez, Manhattan (19.4 PPG)
2) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (17.8)
3) George Papas, Monmouth (15.3)
4) Jao Ituka, Marist (15.3)
5) Walker Miller, Monmouth (15.0)
6) Tyson Jolly, Iona (14.6)
7) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (14.6)
8) Ricardo Wright, Marist (14.2)
9) Shavar Reynolds, Monmouth (14.0)
10) Colby Rogers, Siena (13.7)
Rebounding Leaders
1) Kevin Marfo, Quinnipiac (10.6 RPG)
2) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (8.2)
3) Supreme Cook, Fairfield (8.1)
4) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (7.8)
5) Nikkei Rutty, Monmouth (7.3)
6) Fousseyni Drame, Saint Peter’s (7.1)
7) Anthony Gaines, Siena (7.0)
8) Jackson Stormo, Siena (6.9)
9) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (6.5)
10) Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, Rider (6.5)
Assist Leaders
1) Jose Perez, Manhattan (4.8 APG)
2) Dwight Murray, Jr., Rider (4.4)
3) Kevin Marfo, Quinnipiac (4.1)
4) Noah Thomasson, Niagara (3.6)
5) Ahamadou Fofana, Canisius (3.3)
6) Elijah Joiner, Iona (3.2)
7) Matthew Lee, Saint Peter’s (3.1)
8) Dylan van Eyck, Iona (3.0)
9) George Papas, Monmouth (3.0)
10) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (2.8)
Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (.709)
2) Jordan Jones, Marist (.656)
3) Warren Williams, Manhattan (.581)
4) Jackson Stormo, Siena (.545)
5) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (.542)
6) Supreme Cook, Fairfield (.540)
7) Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, Rider (.539)
8) Jordan Cintron, Niagara (.535)
9) Jao Ituka, Marist (.526)
10) Malek Green, Canisius (.505)
Free Throw Percentage Leaders
1) Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s (.889)
2) Doug Edert, Saint Peter’s (.880)
3) Shavar Reynolds, Monmouth (.866)
4) George Papas, Monmouth (.843)
5) Quinn Slazinski, Iona (.843)
6) Taj Benning, Fairfield (.826)
7) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (.824)
8) Matt Balanc, Quinnipiac (.813)
9) Jose Perez, Manhattan (.804)
10) Samba Diallo, Manhattan (.773)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders
1) Javian McCollum, Siena (.450)
2) Doug Edert, Saint Peter’s (.447)
3) Caleb Green, Fairfield (.429)
4) Colby Rogers, Siena (.407)
5) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (.397)
6) Ricardo Wright, Marist (.397)
7) Tyrese Williams, Quinnipiac (.397)
8) Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s (.392)
9) Nick Hopkins, Siena (.385)
10) Tyson Jolly, Iona (.385)
Steal Leaders
1) Dimencio Vaughn, Rider (1.8 SPG)
2) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (1.7)
3) Nick Hopkins, Siena (1.7)
4) Jordan Cintron, Niagara (1.6)
5) George Papas, Monmouth (1.4)
Blocked Shot Leaders
1) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter’s (2.7 BPG)
2) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (2.0)
3) Jackson Stormo, Siena (1.3)
4) Josh Roberts, Manhattan (1.2)
5) Jordan Jones, Marist (1.2)
Power Rankings
1) Iona (22-5, 14-2 MAAC)
Last Week: 1
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Fairfield (W 76-58)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Canisius, 7 p.m.
2) Siena (13-10, 10-5 MAAC)
Last Week: 2
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Saint Peter’s (W 84-70)
Next Game: Tuesday 2/22 at Monmouth, 7 p.m.
3) Monmouth (17-9, 9-6 MAAC)
Last Week: 4
Last Game: Friday 2/18 vs. Rider (W 60-58)
Next Game: Tuesday 2/22 vs. Siena, 7 p.m.
4) Saint Peter’s (12-11, 10-6 MAAC)
Last Week: 3
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Siena (L 84-70)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Monmouth, 7 p.m.
5) Marist (13-13, 8-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 10
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Quinnipiac (W 67-66)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Manhattan, 7 p.m.
6) Manhattan (14-11, 7-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 9
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 vs. Rider (W 84-78)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Marist, 7 p.m.
7) Quinnipiac (12-12, 7-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 5
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Marist (L 67-66)
Next Game: Thursday 2/24 vs. Siena, 7 p.m.
8) Niagara (12-13, 7-9 MAAC)
Last Week: 8
Last Game: Saturday 2/19 at Canisius (W 65-54)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Rider, 7 p.m.
9) Rider (10-16, 6-10 MAAC)
Last Week: 6
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Manhattan (L 84-78)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 vs. Niagara, 7 p.m.
10) Fairfield (12-16, 6-11 MAAC)
Last Week: 7
Last Game: Sunday 2/20 at Iona (L 76-58)
Next Game: Sunday 2/27 at Manhattan, 2 p.m.
11) Canisius (8-19, 4-12 MAAC)
Last Week: 11
Last Game: Saturday 2/19 vs. Niagara (L 65-54)
Next Game: Friday 2/25 at Iona, 7 p.m.
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