Rider Has Big Second Half To Spoil QU Men's Basketball Senior Day

Sunday, February 26

Hamden, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

10-20, 7-13MAAC

Rider University

17-14,10-10MAAC

Rider

Quinnipiac

Rider Has Big Second Half To Spoil QU Men's Basketball Senior Day

2/26/2017 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Conn. - Freshman guard Mikey Dixon (New Castle, Del.) had 28 points, one shy of his own school record for points for a freshman at the Division I level, but it wasn't enough as Rider outscored the shorthanded Quinnipiac men's basketball team 54-31 in the second half to take a 99-82 win on Sunday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center.

The loss spoiled Senior Day for the three seniors on the team, who were honored pregame: Donovan Smith (Chicago, Ill.), Daniel Harris (Tampa, Fla.) and Alain Chigha (Yauonde, Cameroon). With the loss, the Bobcats fall to 10-20 overall and 7-13 in the MAAC, while Rider improves to 17-14 overall and 10-10 in the MAAC with the win. Quinnipiac played without Smith (injured) and junior guard Reggie Oliver (personal), while freshman guard Peter Kiss (New York, N.Y.) was limited to 13 minutes while continuing to fight a flu bug which has hampered him all week.

Dixon had 18 of his 28 points in the first half to help stake the Bobcats to a 51-45 lead at the break. His 28 points were one shy of the 29 that he had against Canisius on Jan. 20, and two more than the old school record for Division I freshmen of 27, which he tied against Iona on Jan. 14 (set by Kason Mims and matched by Rob Monroe).

Rider took control of the game with a 19-3 run in the second half. After sophomore forward Abdulai Bundu (Upper Marlboro, Md.) hit two foul shots to give the Bobcats a 55-47 lead, the Broncs scored 19 of the next 22 points to go ahead 66-58. A 9-0 run gave the Broncs a 56-55 lead on a jumper in the paint from Tyere Marshall. Dixon tied it back up with a foul shot, and Marshall and Kiss exchanged baskets to keep the score knotted at 58-58.

Freshman guard Stevie Jordan, who had 16 points and 13 assists, then had four of Rider's eight points in an 8-0 run that put the Broncs ahead 66-58. Another Jordan basket made the score 74-62, before Dixon hit a three-pointer to get the lead back down to single digits. A pair of Dixon free throws with 5:41 left had Quinnipiac within 81-71, but the Broncs scored the next five points on a Khalil Thomas layup and a Kealan Washington-Ives three-pointer to put the game out of reach.

Quinnipiac had a strong push to close the first half after trailing by as many as nine in the early going at 16-7. After Thomas put the Broncs ahead 31-30 with 6:43 left in the half, a three-pointer from sophomore guard Andrew Robinson (Takoma Park, Md.) and a driving jumper from Dixon gave the Bobcats a 36-31 lead. A lay-up from Bundu in the final minute of the half followed by two free throws from junior guard Phil Winston (Lakewood, Wash.) gave Quinnipiac its largest lead at 51-42 with 33 seconds left in the half, but Thomas had a three-point play to bring the Broncs within six at the half.

Five players finished in double figures for Quinnipiac, led by Dixon's 28. Robinson had 12 points in the first half on four three-pointers, while Bundu had 11 and Winston and junior forward Chaise Daniels (Meriden, Conn.) each had 10. Thomas had 21 to lead Rider, while Norville Carey had 20, Jimmie Taylor had 19 and Jordan had 16 points and 13 assists. Taylor hit his first three three-pointers after shooting 7-8 from three in the first meeting this year and 5-6 against the Bobcats in the MAAC Tournament a year ago.

Quinnipiac will begin play at the 2017 MAAC Tournament on Thursday at 5 p.m., when it will take on either Niagara or Marist depending on the results of today's games. The winner of that game will then face top-seeded Monmouth on Friday in the quarterfinals.