LAWRENCEVILLE — The sequel turned out to be worse than the original.
Way worse.
For the second straight season, Manhattan came into Alumni Gymnasium and stole a game from Rider in which it trailed for the majority of the 40 minutes.
This time Anthony Isaac tipped in his own miss with 56.5 seconds left for the lead after the Broncs had turned the ball over on their previous possession and the Jaspers held on to deal Rider a backbreaking, 74-71, loss on Monday night.
“To end up on the losing end of that one was tough,” coach Kevin Baggett said.
It was the ninth straight loss for the Broncs (1-11, 0-3), whose only victory was back on Nov. 15 over Division III Eastern.
This one was certainly there for the taking.
Rider led for almost all of the second half, but either couldn’t get a stop or came up empty on the offensive end when it needed a basket. It was also plagued by foul trouble as both Zion Cruz and Caleb Smith were disqualified and the excellent Shemani Fuller played the final five-plus minutes with four fouls.
“You got to make your own breaks sometimes,” Baggett said. “You can’t let the refs dictate that and I’m not saying that they did, but bad call on (Zion’s fifth). Really bad. He knew it and he said it. You can’t take that away, though. We got to execute still. We got to learn how to play when guys get in foul trouble or if they foul out.”
The Broncs were still in position to win after Davis Bynum made a pair of free throws with 1:52 left for a 69-66 advantage, but Devin Dinkins answered for the Jaspers (6-8, 2-1) and after Jamir McNeil turned the ball over driving to the basket, Isaac tipped in his 13th and 14th points for a 70-69 lead.
Rider had three shots to take the lead, but Bynum, who had an terrific game with 19 points, missed twice and Flash Burton air-balled a mid-range jumper from the baseline in between. Bynum’s second chance at the lead was a great look from inside the pain that didn’t drop.
The teams exchanged free throws before the Burton missed a 3 to tie and even though the Broncs secured their 20th offensive rebound, the ball ended up in the hands of Cole McCabe for a prayer that had no chance.
Jadon Winston, who hit the dagger 3 last season with 6.8 seconds on the clock, led Manhattan with 17 points.
Rider is 0-3 in the league for the second straight season — it opened 0-4 before rallying to a 9-11 final record and the No. 8 seed at the MAAC Tournament — with two of those losses being one possession games in the final minute.
“We’re definitely not a 1-11 team. For sure. So, yes,” Fuller said when asked if they can dig out of this hole. “Whether we need to fix it now, buy in even more, be more disciplined and execute even better, but we’re not a 1-11 team. We’re not.”
Fuller and Bynum show up big
Rider’s front court has come a long way since the start of the season.
Fuller (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Bynum (19 points, 7 rebounds) were its two best players on Monday night.
“Just listening to my coach and buying in,” said Fuller, who also had a 15-point, 6-rebound effort in the previous game against VCU. “It takes some time, but I prayed and I got through it. That’s all that matters. I worked.”
The duo combined for 13 offensive rebounds. Fuller even corralled on while laying on his back in the first half.
“Those guys have come along and I’m proud of them,” Baggett said. “They’ve put the work in. Like Shemani said, everybody has now buckled down and is listening and doing what we need them to do. That’s why I want to win so these guys can be rewarded for their efforts and showing up everyday. Nobody is happy to be where we are, but we’re still battling.”
The little things
Rider gave away two points at the end of the first half when Cruz took an ill-advised 3 with 15 seconds left and the shot clock turned off.
Manhattan scored on the other end with the final action of the half go into the half down four instead of six.
That came back to haunt the Broncs in a one-possession game in the final minute.
“We just got be smarter in situations. We just do,” Baggett said. “We got to learn. We talked about that at halftime that we could have taken that last shot instead of giving them the last shot and a basket.”
Trenton Makes
There was plenty of green in the stands thank in large part to a pair of Manhattan players with Trenton connections.
Both Terrance Jones and Erik Oliver-Bush hail from the capital city, although neither played their high school basketball here.
Jones actually spent his freshman year at Lawrence High before he moved on to The Patrick School. His well-traveled path includes stops at Eastern Wyoming College, four seasons at Norfolk State and now a graduate season at Manhattan.
He scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
Oliver-Bush played his high school ball at Roman Catholic in the Philadelphia Catholic League and Mercersburg Academy in the MAPL. He scored five points in 22 minutes.