Danny Stewart dunks against Monmouth. Jackie Schear Photo.

LAWRENCEVILLE — Listening to Kevin Baggett in his postgame press conference, it was hard to believe Rider walked away from Alumni Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon with a victory.

While the head coach didn’t want to say his team dodged a bullet, it certainly needed an escape hatch to get out with a 77-71 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference overtime win against Monmouth after coughing up all of an 18-point lead.

“I just thought we self-imploded,” Baggett said after the Broncs let a 17-point halftime advantage slip away when Justin Robinson hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

But at least Rider (10-9, 6-4) had an extra five minutes to rescue an eighth consecutive victory against its in-state rival and avoid a disheartening defeat.


On an afternoon when neither team could make free throws — they combined for 24 misses from the line — Shawn Valentine finally sunk two crucial freebies with 10 seconds left to ice the game.

“Just move on to the next play,” said Valentine, who had missed two from the line with 1:01 left in overtime. “Just step up to the line with confidence and knock it down.”

The Broncs, who came in shooting 75.2 percent from the line, made their last six attempts after going 2-for-10 at the end of regulation and beginning of overtime. They finished the game 20 of 35, a 57.1 percent clip.

Robinson sent the game to an extra session after Khalil Alford missed a pair of free throws and Zedric Sadler didn’t execute the foul Baggett called for in the huddle.

Rider was in a similar situation earlier this season in a double-overtime loss to Canisius and didn’t foul at the end of the first overtime, and the Griffs ended up tying the game.

Baggett criticized himself in that situation for not using the foul.

“Zedric Sadler tried to foul, but I think any time you try to foul by reaching from behind you give the latitude to the ref to decide if he wants to call that,” Baggett said. “He didn’t.”
Robinson said he didn’t expect a foul and he was just trying to make a play for his team.

“It was 0-0 all over again and we had to finish the game out,” said Monmouth’s freshman guard, who finished with nine points. “Unfortunately, we came up short.”

Rider pulled ahead for good in overtime after Anthony Myles (12 points) converted a three-point play with 1:34 remaining.

Despite letting all of an 18-point lead slip, the Broncs still never trailed.

“We just needed to stick together and have each others backs,” Valentine said.

“It speaks to the character of our guys,” Baggett said. “Guys have been in this situation, this being our third overtime game. One thing I give Shawn credit for is he has short-term memory. ... He did a good job telling the guys to stay together, which they did. So kudos to these guys.”

Danny Stewart did most of his damage in an excellent first half, scoring 14 of his team-high 21 points, while Tommy Pereira finished with a career-high 20, making 6 of 7 from behind the arc.

Max DiLeo and Collin Stewart had 12 each to pace the Hawks (10-11, 4-6), who had a two-game win streak snapped.

Rider’s next three games — at Saint Peter’s and home against Fairfield and Marist — are against the bottom of the league.

But as you learn quickly in the MAAC, nothing comes easy.

“This league is a monster,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “Every night is a fight. I don’t care what teams’ records are. I don’t care if it’s the first-place team against the team picked 11th. It’s going to be a fight.”

At least the Broncs walked out of this one with a win.

“A tale of two halves,” Baggett said. “A tale of two teams. I’m glad we got the win as usual.”

NOTES: Coaches for both teams wore sneakers with their suits as part of Coaches vs. Cancer weekend. ... Rider turned the ball over 23 times, giving it 64 in the last three games for an average of 21.3. ... Monmouth also struggled from the line, going 5 of 14.