NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Time and time again, Rider coach Kevin Baggett has called Jon Thompson the heart and soul of this team.

Without him, it’s hard to think where the Broncs would have been Saturday night against Iona. Thompson scored a career-high 26 points, single-handedly keeping Rider close to Iona in a tightly contested Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game.

Ultimately, his heroics weren’t enough.

For every play Thompson made, either Lamont Jones or Sean Armand had an answer. The Gaels’ dynamic backcourt combined for 56 points as they snapped a three-game skid, dropping the Broncs, 78-71, at the Hynes Athletic Center.


“Those two guys did what they needed to do tonight,” Baggett said. “We didn’t defend them well enough. They were aggressive and put us on our heels a little bit. To their credit, they’re home, they made some big shots.”

Matched up against Jones — who’s likely to be the league’s Player of the Year — Thompson did everything in his power to keep Rider close.

He hit 9 of 14 from the field (4 of 9 from beyond the arc), including 12 straight in the second half, the last of which, a 3-pointer with 7:35 remaining, cut Iona’s lead to 61-60.

“Coach challenged me to take charge of my team,” said Thompson, who’s averaging 19 points per game over the last five contests. “He wanted me to step up. I just went out there and tried to stay in the game.”

But Jones was every bit as brilliant for his team.

He finished with 32 points on 10 of 19 shooting and 11 of 13 from the foul line. He scored 10 of the Gaels’ final 17 points.

Armand added 24 points, becoming the 34th Iona player to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

With 46.2 seconds remaining, Anthony Myles (19 points) connected on a 3-pointer — Rider finished 9 of 26 from deep after a 3-for-12 first half — slicing Iona’s lead to 75-71.

But the Broncs would come up with three empty trips and Jones iced the contest, making 3 of 4 free throws.

Coming off a 105-104 double-overtime loss to Marist here, coach Tim Cluess watered down the gameplan to run everything for his big two.

“You take the pressure off the rest of the guys by saying, ‘these guys are going to carry us tonight,’” Cluess said.

The Gaels (15-10, 9-5) made a living at the free-throw line. They attacked the basket early and often, earning 26 attempts. They outscored the Broncs (13-13, 8-6) from the line 21-10.

“Give those guys credit for being more aggressive at home,” Baggett said. “That’s the way we were back at our place. If we match up with these guys again, that would be our message, ‘be more aggressive from the start of the game.’”

Both teams came into the game locked in a third-place tie, two games behind first-place Niagara.

For this time of year, although everything ultimately comes down to three days in March, this was a must-win.

“If you don’t get wins, you start to lose the kids,” Cluess said. “I think it was important that we got one.”

Rider trailed by seven at halftime, and though it grabbed the lead early in the second half, couldn’t steal one on the road.

Despite the performance of its No. 5.

“Jon Thompson is who I rely on every night,” Baggett said. “He’s not hung up on the numbers. He just wants to help his team win a game.”

NOTES: Rider arrived Friday and stayed overnight — something it usually wouldn’t do for a trip to Iona — because of the winter storm that left some parts of the Northeast buried under multiple feet of snow.