Saturday, March 2, 2013

Game 31: Rider (17-13, 11-6) at Canisius (18-11, 11-6)

Who: Rider (17-13, 11-6) at Canisius (18-11, 11-6).

When: Saturday, 2 p.m., Koessler Athletic Center, 107.7 FM The Bronc. 

Last time out: Rider def. Niagara, 68-59; Canisius def. St. Peter's, 77-65 (OT).

Previous meeting: Canisius won 67-50.

Background: The winner of this game can grab a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title with some help elsewhere.

If Niagara loses to St. Peter's, the Rider/Canisius winner will be crowned the regular-season champion on a tiebreaker, earning the No. 1 seed in the league tournament and a berth in the NIT should it fail to win the tourney in Springfield.

Both Rider and Canisius hold the tiebreaker over Loyola, which could also finish 12-6 with a victory over Manhattan Sunday.

The Purple Eagles still control their own destiny and win the title outright by beating the Peacocks.

The good news for the Broncs is they can't slip into the play-in round and will begin the conference tournament next Saturday as one of the top six seeds.

The Griffs won the first meeting in Lawrenceville, outrebounding the Broncs 42-22. Billy Baron and Jordan Heat both scored 17 points with Heath grabbing 13 rebounds.

Heath missed Thursday's win over St. Peter's with a sprained ankle.

Zedric Sadler (suspension) sat out his second consecutive game for Rider Thursday.

Projected starting lineups: Rider: G-Jon Thompson (Sr. 12.9 ppg), G-Anthony Myles (Jr. 12.3 ppg), G-Nurideen Lindsey (Jr. 8.3 ppg), F-Danny Stewart (Jr. 11.1 ppg), C-Dera Nd-Ezuma (Sr. 2.5 ppg).
Canisius: G-Billy Baron (Jr. 16.7 ppg), G-Harold Washington (Sr. 13.7 ppg), G-Isaac Sosa (Sr. 12.1 ppg), F-Chris Manhertz (Jr. 7.9 ppg), F-Josiah Heath (So. 3 ppg).

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