Who: Marist (7-7, 2-1) at Rider (4-11, 1-2)

When: Friday, Alumni Gymnasium, 7 p.m., 107.7 FM The Bronc.

Last time out: Rider def. Manhattan, 88-77. Marist def. St. Peter’s, 71-67.

Background: When these teams met on Dec 4, Marist put a 20-point beatdown on Rider.

The Red Foxes shot 13 of 20 from behind the arc, connecting on their first eight 3-point attempts while the Broncs missed their first 13 and finished 1 of 14 from 3.

“Embarrassment is being too kind,” said senior forward Novar Gadson. “They left a sour taste in our mouth.”

Coach Tommy Dempsey called the loss, in which his team gave up 95 points, the low-water mark of the season.

“That weekend — Manhattan and Marist — was a real punch in the face,” Dempsey said. “To that point it was like we’ve been banged up, we had some suspensions, we had a guy ineligible, we had Novar’s injury, we played a tough schedule. You have all your excuses lined up and we thought we would come out and win two games in that MAAC weekend and we got pounded twice.”

That prompted Dempsey to make changes to his lineup and defensive philosophy. The Broncs have started using a three-quarter/half-court trap to show pressure and “get the guys excited about defense” as Dempsey puts it.

Rider’s slowly but surely played better. It competed against Florida and lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Princeton before reeling off three of its last four.
The Broncs are in the midst of playing eight of nine away from Alumni Gym with Friday’s game as the lone home fixture.

“When you’re 1-10 and staring at eight of the next nine on the road, as a coach you just want to burst out in tears,” Dempsey said.

But Rider is coming off its best performance of the season, led by Gadson’s 21 points in the win over Manhattan. The Broncs built a 22-point first half lead, then held on for an 11-point victory.

Marist has already surpassed its win total (six) from a year ago and is getting a strong season from junior guard Devin Price (13.5 ppg).

The Red Foxes rallied from 13 down against St. Peter’s behind 14 points each from Anell Alexis and Chavaughn Lewis.

Projected starting lineups: Rider: G-Eddie Mitchell (Fr., 4.6 ppg), G-Jon Thompson (Jr., 7.5 ppg), F-Novar Gadson (Sr., 8.6 ppg), F-Brandon Penn (Sr., 11 ppg), F-Danny Stewart (So., 13.5 ppg).

Marist: G-Devin Price (Jr., 13.5 ppg), G-Isaiah Morton (Fr., 8.9 ppg), G-Jay Bowie (So., 5.7 ppg), F-Anell Alexis (So., 5.5 ppg), Adam Kemp (So., 8.4 ppg).