The third-ranked Maryland Terrapins were severely tested by Rider and needed a furious second half rally to beat the Broncos 65-58 at a relieved Xfinity Center.
The Terps (3-0) began the game sluggishly and appeared to have a “Hoya Hangover” still basking in the glow of defeating their crosstown rival Georgetown 75-71 earlier in the week.
Behind most of the first half, they had to finish the half on an 11-4 run to only be down 31-29 at the break. Then to make matters worse Rider began the second half on a 12-0 run to take a 43-29 lead with 16:19 to play in the second half.
But instead of going into a shell the Terps, behind by 14 points, buckled down and it was five-star freshman Diamond Stone that came to the rescue.
He hit a follow up dunk that was part of a Terp 6-0 run that cut the deficit to 43-35. Each team traded three-pointers and then as part of the Terps charge Stone made two quick buckets to make the score 46-42 as they went on a 13-3 run to get back in the game with 10:23 to go.
A Jared Nicken’s floater cut the deficit to 46-44 and a bucket and one from Robert Carter closed the gap to 48-47.
After Rider hit a bucket Melo Trimble scored a layup and a free throw to tie the score at 50-50 with 6:16 to play.
With the score tied at 50-50 the Terps took their first lead of the game on a bucket from Rasheed Sulaimon, making the score 52-50 with 5:28 to go.
Trimble then hit a three-pointer to make the score 55-52 with just over three minutes to go. Senior Jake Layman followed with another bucket to increase the lead to 57-52.
Stone hit a shot but Rider rallied to make the score 59-58. That was as close as they would get as Trimble hit two free throws to make the score 61-58 with 39 seconds to play in the game.
Layman then hit the four most important free throws of the game to steal the win. He finished the game with a double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Stone ended the game with 12 points on 6-7 shooting. He also corralled five rebounds and had two blocked shots.
Carter added 13 points and four rebounds. Trimble had 11 points five assists and one steal. Sulaimon chipped in with 11 points, and three rebounds. Nickens contributed five points, four rebounds and two assists to the winning effort.
The Terps won the rebounding battle 34-27. Neither team shot well as both finished the game at less than 50 percent shooting from the floor and less than 30 percent from three-point range.
Maryland was 14-22 from the free throw line and Rider was six for eight from the charity stripe.
Rider was led by Thomas Kahil with 14 points. Shawn Valentine added 12 points in a losing effort for the (0-3) Broncos.
