Freshman Khalil Thomas is playing well. Photo by John Blaine.

LAWRENCEVILLE — The first time Rider freshman forward Kahlil Thomas saw snow was earlier this season on the walk back to his dorm following a win over Quinnipiac.

The first time Thomas, a Parkway, Fla., native, had a class canceled by the white stuff was Monday when the skies opened and dumped half a foot on Mercer County.

“Never had a school snow day,” Thomas joked after finishing practice Wednesday following a second day of no classes this week. “I was just like, ‘Aww, man!’”

That, though, didn’t stop the Broncs from pressing on with their game against Fairfield, which they ended up winning to go 3-0 on days when it snows.

For his part, Thomas turned in a pretty solid performance, collecting 11 points and six rebounds.

Since coach Kevin Baggett put him back in the starting lineup Jan. 16 against Saint Peter’s, Thomas has scored in double figures twice and grabbed at least six boards three times.

“Slowing down a lot,” Thomas said when asked what’s been the focal point for him. “Knowing what to do and when to do it and when not to do it. (The game) is starting to come to me.”

At 6-foot-7, Thomas gives Rider an inside presence to compliment senior forward Danny Stewart. In the Broncs’ exhibition game back in November, he scored 23 points and Baggett thought that lulled everybody into a false sense of security.

The reality for Thomas was he had a lot of growing up to do.

“Once Kahlil got comfortable and started to understand the level of competition here and the athleticism and strength, he would be better,” Baggett said. “He’s starting to figure it out ... starting to use his quickness and we have to get him to be a little more consistent with his jump shot on the perimeter.”

That’s all stuff Thomas can work on. Right now Baggett needs him to take some of the pressure off Stewart by playing defense and finishing at the rim.

“We just can’t constantly ask Danny to score on offense and guard the big guy on defense,” Baggett said. “That’s where Kahlil can guard the other bigs and kind of take some of the pressure off Danny and allow him to guard some of the other smaller four guys on the perimeter.”

On Thursday, Thomas will likely be the primary defender against Marist center Adam Kemp. The first time the two faced off — a 66-56 Rider victory in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — Thomas finished with 10 points and seven boards. Kemp, who was returning from a knee injury, had 10 and 11.

Thomas is certainly up for the challenge.

“We’re clicking now,” he said. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to keep going every night.”

The weather forecast for Thursday is cold but clear.

“I don’t even want snow,” Thomas laughed.

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 Rider (12-9, 8-4) goes for a fourth straight win when it hosts Marist (8-14, 5-7) Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Broncs are two games behind league leaders Canisius and Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and in a three-way tie wit Manhattan and Quinnipiac.

Since a home loss to Saint Peter’s in which Baggett ripped the team’s defense, Rider has gone 4-1, allowing 61.4 points per game.

“We’ve made some adjustment defensively,” Baggett said. “(We changed) how we were doing some things on the ball screens. We made some adjustments on how we were defending in the lane on drives. Also, our guys took more attention to being able to focus ... and more of a priority on that defensive end.”

Although the Broncs’ scoring average has dipped well below the 80 point per game clip it was at earlier in the year (down to 76.4), Baggett isn’t overly concerned.

“The constant has to be you have to be able to guard people,” he said.

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The Rider women open up Thursday’s doubleheader against MAAC leaders Iona. The game tips off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3 as can the men’s game which follows at 8:30.

Under the guidance of rookie head coach Billi Godsey, the Gaels (19-2, 12-0) have won 18 straight, including a rare victory over Marist that snapped a 29-game losing streak against the Red Foxes as well as ending Marist’s run of 36 consecutive MAAC victories.

Iona is led by Damika Martinez, the reigning conference Player of the Year, whose 24.6 points per game leads the league and ranks sixth nationally.

The Broncs (10-11, 6-6) are coming off a road win against Manhattan and have alternated win/loss in their last five.