{"id":464210,"date":"2025-12-10T04:55:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/464210\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T04:55:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:55:20","slug":"rider-mens-basketball-held-to-38-points-in-ugly-loss-to-bucknell-trentonian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/464210\/","title":{"rendered":"Rider men\u2019s basketball held to 38 points in ugly loss to Bucknell \u2013 Trentonian"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAWRENCEVILLE \u2014 The offensive numbers for Rider were among the poorest in all of college basketball before Tuesday night\u2019s game against Bucknell and they only got worse after it was over.<\/p>\n

The Broncs failed to reach the 40-point mark for the first time in over half a decade in an ugly 51-38 loss at Alumni Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

Yes, you read that right.<\/p>\n

Thirty-eight points.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the things I\u2019m seeing,\u201d coach Kevin Baggett said, \u201cI\u2019ve not seen in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s Flash Burton, left, shoots over the defense of Bucknell\u2019s Jayden Williams, right, during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s Antwan Wilson, left, moves toward the basket as Bucknell\u2019s Jayden Williams, right, defends during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s Kristupas Kepezinskas looks to move the ball against Bucknell during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s AB Coulibaly, 10, drives to the basket as Bucknell\u2019s Amon Dorries, 22, defends during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s AB Coulibably, right, defends against Bucknell\u2019s Achile Spadone, left, during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rider\u2019s<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s Flash Burton, 11, goes up for a shot as Bucknell\u2019s Achile Spadone, 24, defends during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Rider\u2019s Flash Burton, left, shoots over the defense of Bucknell\u2019s Jayden Williams, right, during an NCAA men\u2019s basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko\/ Trentonian Photo)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The Broncs (1-8) lost their sixth straight game and still haven\u2019t beaten a Division I opponent.<\/p>\n

The 38 points were the fewest they\u2019ve scored since a 61-37 loss at Wisconsin on Dec. 31, 2019.<\/p>\n

They nearly had as many turnovers (15) as made field goals (16).<\/p>\n

They scored three points in the final nine minutes of the first half.<\/p>\n

They turned the ball over on their first five possessions of the second half.<\/p>\n

They went 3-of-13 from behind the arc.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to slow down and be more disciplined,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cWe got to move, pass, cut and when we do that we\u2019re hard to guard. We got to do it consistently for 40 minutes. We are playing in spurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not one player reached double figures in scoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get a little pressure, we tend to start playing one on one,\u201d said forward Caleb Smith, who had six points and eight rebounds. \u201cIf we keep swinging the ball, we can find the right shot. Every time we swung the ball, we got a good shot, a shot we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even when Rider got a good shot, it didn\u2019t go in.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a reoccurring problem. The Broncs rank 353rd out of 361 teams in 3-point percentage, dead last in 3-pointers made per game and next to last in effective field goal percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are taking too many quick shots, too many early shots instead of making the defense guard,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cThey are making us guard by moving the ball and driving it. We stand around too much. Guys aren\u2019t moving enough. When you don\u2019t move, the next thing you know the shot clock runs down and those are hard shots to make consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazingly, given all that, a 14-1 push in the second half had the Broncs trailing the Bison (3-9), who are going through it themselves and snapped a nine-game skid with this victory, by two (34-32) at the under-eight media timeout.<\/p>\n

Bucknell then scored the game\u2019s next eight points, while Rider committed three straight turnovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many guys tried to be the hero when we finally got back in the game,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cToo many turnovers (and) too many breakdowns when you do all that to get back in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton struggling<\/p>\n

Sophomore guard Flash Burton scored three points on 1-of-9 shooting and had just one assist in 24 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes Flash is in his own head,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cHe\u2019s on the top of the list when it comes to the scouting report and he\u2019s not handled (that) well to this point. Got to get better, got to learn, got watch more film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rider had three assists on 16 made baskets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unheard of for my teams,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cWe got to have better point guard play from all of our team, and we will. These guys are fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baggett\u2019s best lineup on Tuesday was one of Jamir McNeil, Kristupas Kpezinskas, AB Coulibaly, Davis Bynum and Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody at some point has played some good minutes and then bad minutes,\u201d the veteran coach said. \u201cIt\u2019s not been any consistency. We cut the game to two points and we got to execute, we got to defend, we got to communicate on both ends of the court. That\u2019s something we struggle with right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz healing<\/p>\n

Zion Cruz missed his second straight game with the groin injury he suffered last Thursday at Merrimack.<\/p>\n

Baggett said he hopes to have Cruz back for the trip to Delaware in a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked better today. I got to believe he\u2019ll be ready to play next week, at least we hope so. That\u2019s our trainer\u2019s call,\u201d Baggett said. \u201cHe did tell me he felt better today and got up some shots. Hopefully, he\u2019s close to getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAWRENCEVILLE \u2014 The offensive numbers for Rider were among the poorest in all of college basketball before Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,325,29863,231,772,1544,9130,66,28060],"class_list":{"0":"post-464210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-mercer-county","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaab","15":"tag-new-jersey","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-trt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115693494769055167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}