Khalil Alford had eight points in the second half/ Photo by JOHN BLAINE

LAWRENCEVILLE — On an afternoon when his team needed a boost, Rider coach Kevin Baggett got it from a pair of unlikely contributors.

Junior Fortunat scored 12 points, without missing a shot, and Khalil Alford put in eight points — all in the second half — as the Broncs knocked off Big South leaders Charleston Southern, 61-54, in a BracketBuster Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

Fortunat finished 5 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from the foul line, while adding eight rebounds. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward played although his father is gravely ill.

“For him to play the way he played today, I’m proud of him,” Baggett said. “I’m praying for him, and for him to respond the way he did with the adversity he’s dealing with, I’m happy for Junior.”

Alford hit two key second-half 3-pointers, helping Rider wrestle the lead away from the Bucs for good.

His first triple pulled the Broncs even at 44 and his second put them ahead, 49-46 with 5:16 remaining. Tommy Pereira followed with his first 3 in five games, giving Rider a six-point lead.

Alford benefitted from the absence of Zedric Sadler, who was suspended for a violation of team rules.

Baggett said the suspension is “indefinite” at the moment, but they’ll meet next week to decide if Sadler will miss any more action.

“With Zedric being out, Khalil is that next guy I put in,” Baggett said. “I trust Khalil. I’ve been yelling at him all year to be more aggressive offensively. He can make shots and he’s been practicing well. I knew without Zedric today, I was going to play Khalil and he hit some shots.

Alford said it gave him confidence when he knocked down his first shot of the second half immediately after checking into the game.

“I always know I can shoot,” Alford said. “It’s all confidence. Once I knock that first one down, I know I can get in the flow.”

The Broncs (16-13) once again got off to a slow start, struggling to figure out the Bucs’ 2-3 zone. They had 12 turnovers and jacked up 16 shots from beyond the arc in the first half.

For the game, Rider attempted 28 3-pointers (seven makes), while Charleston Southern, which came in averaging 25 attempts and 9.3 makes per game, only put up 19 (four makes).

“We were playing like Charleston Southern and I’m like, ‘fellas that’s not our identity,’” Baggett said. “Our identity is to get into the paint. Drive it in and not settle for as many 3s. We took the right 3s in the second half, but we weren’t playing the way I thought we should be playing the first half. Fortunately, we only got down by three and were able to recover in the second half.”

Jon Thompson led the Broncs with 15 points on his Senior Day.

Arlon Harper paced the Bucs (16-10), who played without leading scorer Saah Nimley, with 13 points and Cedrick Bowen added 10.

Rider used an 11-0 run to grab a 39-36 advantage with 12:08 remaining, but Charleston Southern answered with eight in a row to re-take the lead.

Alford came off the bench to score the next five and the Broncs held on despite some shaky foul shooting and turnovers in the final minute.

“I’m always ready to come in and knock shots down,” Alford said.