Siena men's basketball rally falls short in loss to Rider

PHOTOGRAPHER: File Photo

Siena's Donald Carey, shown in a game earlier this season, led Siena with 20 points in Sunday's loss to Rider.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N. J. — Trailing by three points at halftime, Rider put up 48 points in the second half and held off a late Siena rally to defeat the Saints, 85-77, Sunday afternoon in a MAAC contest at Alumni Gymnasium.

Dimencio Vaughn scored 27 points and Stevie Jordan added 23 for the Broncs in a game that was marred by an altercation with Rider leading 70-61 with 5:45 left in the game.

Gary Harris Jr. of Siena and Frederick Scott of Rider were given flagrant-2 technical fouls and were ejected from the game. Siena then went on a 10-2 tear and closed the gap to 72-71, but Rider was solid from the foul line down the stretch to pull away. Siena had chances at the end but Jalen Pickett’s layup attempt was blocked with 1:12 left, and Donald Carey’s 3-point attempt missed with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

Siena, which had won four straight going into the game, is now 2-1 in the conference and 6-6 overall. The Saints are 6-0 at home and 0-6 on the road.

Rider, coming off losses to Temple and Wisconsin, improves to 2-0 and 8-4 for coach Kevin Baggett.

Carey and Pickett led Siena in scoring with 20 and 14 points, respectively. Pickett had a team-high seven assists. Manny Camper added 11 points — and 10 rebounds — as the only other Saint in double figures.

Scott added 11 points for Rider. Vaughn led the team with six rebounds.

“I loved the effort our group gave, especially in the first half,” said Siena head coach Carmen Maciariello. “I thought we were a little lackadaisical to start the second half. Rider did a good job of imposing their will; scored on seven of their first 10 possessions.

“We still competed. It was a one-possession game [toward the end]. We had a very good player attack the basket and we came up a little short.

“I’m happy with the effort. We get back to work.

“It was a good game. Rider’s a good team. We’re a good team. We’re playing to win a MAAC championship, and every game counts in the MAAC.”

Of the altercation involving Harris, Maciariello said, “I love Gary; I love his effort and his energy. … We’ll take a look at the film. I hope he didn’t do anything malicious.”

On his shot with just over a minute remaining, Pickett said, “I got down to the baseline, I kinda didn’t see him there, I saw him late, and he blocked it. It just happens like that.”

Added Maciariello, “We’ve just got to do a better job in realizing that every single possession matters. We’ve got to value the ball a little more. We’ve got to be able to make our free throws. I thought we left some points on the board in the first half missing front ends of one-and-ones.”

Siena hosts St. Peter’s at 7 Thursday night at the Times Union Center.

Notes: Rider outscored Siena on fast-break points, 20-8, and outscored Siena in the paint, 34-28. Rider took 33 shots from the foul line compared to 17 for Siena.

SIENA (77)
Burns 2-4 3-4 7, Camper 2-4 7-8 11, Carey 8-18 0-1 20, Pickett 6-14 0-0 14, Hein 2-4 0-0 4, Harris 2-5 0-0 6, Friday 1-3 3-4 5, King 2-2 0-0 6, Young 2-2 4. Totals: 27-56 13-17 77 77.

RIDER (85)
Scott 4-9 2-2 11, Marshall 3-6 0-0 6, Vaughn 7-12 10-11 27, Jordan 6-12 8-10 23, Ings 3-4 3-5 9, Nunez 1-3 1-1 3, Williams 0-1 2-2 2, Ogemuno-Johnson 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 25-50 28-33 85..

Halftime score: Siena 40, Rider 37. Three-point shooting: Siena 10-25 (Carey, 4-11, Hein 0-1, Pickett 2-8, Harris 2-3, King 2-2). Rider 7-16 (Scott 1-2, Vaughn 3-4, Ings 0-1, Jordan 3-6, Nunez 0-2, Randall 0-1). Rebounds: Siena 28 (Camper 10), Rider 30 (Vaughn 6). Assists: Siena 12 (Pickett 7), Rider 7 (Scott 3). Turnovers: Siena 20, Rider 17. Total fouls: Siena 28, Rider 20. Attendance: 1,541.