Feb. 3, 2003

Box Score

Jerry Johnson led hot-shooting Rider (8-12/4-7 MAAC) with 25 points in an 87-77 MAAC triumph over Siena (13-8/7-5) in front of 5,059 fans in Albany's Pepsi Arena Monday night.

Siena took a 30-29 lead to the lockerroom thanks to a buzzer-beating putback by freshman Paul Williams. The Broncs led for most of the initial stanza, grabbing their first lead of the game at the 13:33 mark on a three-pointer from Johnson.

Michael Haddix led all players with 11 of his 18 points coming before the intermission for Siena.

Rider dominated play in the second half building a 13-point lead with five minutes remaining on successive three by Johnson and Robert Taylor. Taylor finished with 23 for the Broncs.

The lead bulged to 16 on the ensuing Rider possession following three free throws. The Saints frantic last minute rally closed the gap to as few as seven with under a minute, but time quickly ran out on the home team.

Rider shot 49% from the field compared to just 37.7% for Siena. The undersized Broncs also managed to pull in 36 rebounds while Siena nabbed 38. The visitors also shot 81.1% from the free throw line compared to Siena's 72%.

Edwin Muniz joined Johnson and Taylor in double figures for Rider with 12 points. Tommy Mitchell and Antoine Jordan scored 12 and 14 respectively for the Saints.

Siena fell to 6-5 at home this season.

The Saints return to MAAC action on Sunday at Iona. Game-time is set for 2 p.m.