Game Notes: Rider | Wagner

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Staten Island, NY - The Wagner men's basketball team concludes its non-conference slate at home as the Seahawks welcome the Rider University Broncs to the Spiro Sports Center for a 7:00 pm tip on Monday night.

.This marks the 21^st in the all-time series with Rider leading the head-to-head matchup, 16-4, having won four of the last five contests.THE COACHES
Rider:              Kevin Baggett: 39-38, Third Season
Overall Record: Same
All-time against Wagner: 1-0
 
Wagner:          Bashir Mason: 40-32, Third Season
Overall Record: Same
All-time against Rider: 0-1
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER…

• The Cincinnati Bearcats limited Wagner to 29.8 percent shooting and placed four players in double-figures in posting a 72-48 victory at Fifth Third Arena in the Seahawks' final non-conference road game of the season.

 
SCOUTING THE BRONCS…

• Rider is sporting wins in back-to-back contests, most recently a 62-48 home triumph over Morgan State back on December 18^.
• In that contest, Teddy Okereafor went for a team-leading 21 points on a blistering 8-of-11 shooting from the floor in 34 minutes of play.
• Okereafor is the team's leading scorer at 11.6 points per game while teammate Matt Lopez is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.0 points, after tossing in for 12 pointson 5-of-10 shooting against Morgan State.
• Rider is 1-0 against NEC schools this season, defeating Central Connecticut, 69-56, on December 3 at home. 

ALL-TIME AGAINST RIDER…

• This marks the 21^st all-time meeting between the Broncs and Seahawks with Rider leading the all-time head-to-head series, 16-4.
• Rider has secured four of the last five victories in the series, including last season's matchup, 79-58, in Lawrenceville, NJ.

THE SHOT; 1993 NEC CHAMPIONSHIPS...

• One of the most famous plays in Northeast Conference history took place in the 1993 Northeast Conference Championship game, played in Rider's Alumni Gymnasium.
• The Broncs trailed Wagner 64-63 and inbounded the ball under their own basket when Rider's all-time leading scorer, Hall of Famer Darrick Suber and NEC Player of the Year, went coast-to-coast and hit a running foul line jumper at the buzzer to send a standing-room-only crowd into a frenzy, sending the Broncs to the NCAA tournament.
• Bobby Hopson was mere moments away from being named NEC Tournament MVP – that's what the game-winning shot and a team-high 32 points will get you.
• Wagner's Tim Capstraw was on the verge of coaching his alma mater into the NCAA tournament while his Rider counterpart Kevin Bannon would have to wait until next year.
• Racing up the floor, Hopson, taking only six seconds off the clock, drew a foul and hit the two subsequent foul shots to bring the Seahawks back within a basket.
• Wagner quickly fouled on the inbound, but Wilcox missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
• By this point the game's rating had risen 73 percent from the start of the contest, which meant 1.1 million homes were now looking on to see who would capture the NEC crown.
• Looking to tie the game, Hopson was fouled again. He netted the first of two ever-important free throws to cut the Rider lead to one. What followed was arguably the most-eventful 10 seconds in NEC basketball history.
• Hopson missed the back end, but Wagner's All-NEC point guard Quincy Lewis, who was plagued by foul trouble the whole night, somehow came up with the offensive rebound along the baseline and almost immediately kicked it out to Hopson.
• His pull-up floater from the left side free throw line extended hit nothing but net and sent the raucous Wagner contingent into a frenzy with four seconds to go. Wagner 64, Rider 63.
• After all the lobbying and looks, Mikola sent an uncontested inbounds pass to Suber who began his final play in Alumni Gym at the opponents' three-point arc.
• Wagner's John Yezzi and Brendan Kenney were waiting for him just outside the foul line. Suber took off into the air, his feet at the waist of the two Seahawk defenders. He leaned in and released a one-hander               

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department and on the men's basketball program and head coach Bashir Mason (@BashirMason) for news on the third-year head coach.