Kevin Baggett told his team that this weekend was a business trip.

He needed it to understand it was in western New York to win two games and take control of its own destiny heading into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

Rider rallied from an 11-point deficit Saturday afternoon to beat Canisius, 65-61, at the Koessler Athletic Center and secure the No. 2 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

The Broncs (18-13, 12-6) put themselves in position to claim the regular-season crown with a victory over Niagara Thursday night, but were forced to settle for second when the Purple Eagles (18-12, 13-5) knocked off St. Peter’s to win the title outright.

“We didn’t want to settle for just one win,” Baggett said by phone on the team bus. “We wanted to control our own destiny. We didn’t want to have to depend on someone else.”

Zedric Sadler returned from a two-game suspension and scored Rider’s final five points, including a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining that gave it a 63-61 lead.

Sadler also locked in on Canisius guard Billy Baron, holding the Griffs’ leading scorer to 14 points on 3 of 8 shooting.

“He’s such a gamer,” Baggett said. “He messed up and made a mistake just like we’ve all made mistakes. We put it behind us and move on. I’m happy for him.”

Canisius (18-12, 11-7) led 61-56 with 4:24 left, but Rider finished the game on a 9-0 run.

Junior Fortunat scored 12 points and Jon Thompson and Nurideen Lindsey had 11 each.

Lindsey reached double figures for the first time since scoring 11 in a win at Siena on Dec. 7.

The Broncs will play next Saturday at 7:30 against the winner of the 7/10 game. St. Peter’s is the 10th seed but the seventh seed won’t be determined until after Sunday’s round of games.

"We wanted to prove to people what kind of team we have and we have to prove it again the conference tourney,” Baggett said.