Rider coach Kevin Baggett said a victory over Manhattan would be a signature win. John Blaine Photo.

LAWRENCEVILLE — In the wacky world of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where the top five teams are separated by a game and a half, anything is possible.

Rider (9-8, 5-3) enters play Friday night just off the pace set by league leader Canisius (13-7, 7-2), which took a half-game advantage over three other schools — Manhattan, Iona and Quinnipiac — with its victory against Niagara earlier this week.

“It just depends on what week it is,” Broncs head coach Kevin Baggett said. “A lot of upsets going on in the league. It’s a good league. Everybody is pretty balanced. There is a lot of parity in the league.”

Baggett feels like his team can catapult itself back into contention for the regular-season title if it can get a win against the Jaspers (13-4, 6-2) Friday at Draddy Gymnasium. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU.

Manhattan should know as well as anybody how crazy this conference can be since it’s coming off an awful loss to last-place Fairfield, which had dropped its first seven league contests before upsetting the preseason favorite Jaspers.

“We haven’t had what I would call a signature win this year,” Baggett said. “To me, a win over Manhattan would be a signature win for us. They’re really good. I know they are coming off a loss the other day, so it’s going to be tough for us to win on the road.”

That certainly isn’t lost on his players.

“It’s a huge game,” sophomore guard Zedric Sadler said. “We’re looking forward to this game. They were predicted to be first. Just like the Canisius game, we’re going to be ready to play.”

The big question is the availability of  Manhattan’s George Beamon, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury. The New York Post reported Thursday night that coach Steve Masiello said that Beamon, the team’s leading scorer, will not only play but start.

Beamon is averaging 20.1 points per game.

Steve Masiello tells me star wing George Beamon will start tomorrow night against Rider.
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) January 24, 2014

Baggett said the Broncs are ready either way.

“We’re totally prepared for Beamon playing,” he said. “That’s the way we go into every game. If he doesn’t play, that’s fine. If he does play, we’re prepared for him.”

But the Jaspers have other weapons.

Senior guard Michael Alvarado is having a strong year, averaging 14.2 points per game, and senior center Rhamel Brown is one of the best shot blockers in the country.

“He’s going to block some shots. He’s going to get four blocks a game because that’s what he does,” Baggett said. “We just got to keep going after him and try to get him in foul trouble. We got to show him the ball at times with shot fakes and try to go through him and around him, but you can’t be passive. You have to continue to attack him because that’s what he wants you to do.”

The Broncs hope to build off their best defensive performance of the season when they held Marist to 32 percent shooting and 56 points.

“When we’re ready to play,” Sadler said, “we can play defense.”