JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Saint Peter's men's basketball team claimed its fifth consecutive win on Sunday afternoon, knocking off hOURglass Rival Rider 73-54. The Peacocks remain atop of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) standings with their league-leading 12-5 record and the win guarantees a top-5 finish for the team, securing a first-round bye in the MAAC Championship.
How it Happened
- For the second straight game, Saint Peter's got out to a sluggish start, giving up the game's first eight points just over three minutes into action. The 8-0 deficit would end up being the largest of the game and the only time during the contest that the home team trailed.
- Once the Peacocks got rolling, the team assembled an 18-1 run from the 15:47 to 10:17 mark.
- Over the 5:30 span, the Peacocks knocked down seven field goals, two triples, and a pair of free throws, while holding Rider to 0-of-9 shooting from the field (0-for-4 from three), taking an 18-9 lead.
- Doug Edert led the way during the rally with two three-pointers and Dallas Watson contributed four points to the run.
- Rider would end the drought by scoring six straight and cutting Saint Peter's lead to 18-15, but the Peacocks would answer with the game's next seven points, putting the squad ahead by double-digits (25-15) --- Derrick Woods connected on consecutive layups followed by a triple from Quinn Taylor.
- By halftime, the Peacocks would lead 31-24 with nine different players having scored in the first 20 minutes of action.
- The second half was literally all Edert.
- After the Broncs cut the game to a single possession (34-32), Edert scored 22 points in less than eight minutes, which included 17 straight at one point, to spearhead a 26-10 Peacock run that expanded the team's lead to 60-42.
- Edert lit up the scoreboard with five trifectas, a pair of layups, and a trio of free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt, essentially putting the game out of reach.
- Saint Peter's took its largest lead of the afternoon when Matthew Lee drove to the basket and found a cutting KC Ndefo for a posterizing one handed slam dunk, plus a foul, completing a three-point play that put the home unit ahead 66-46 with 7:01 remaining.
- The Peacocks would coast the rest of the way, scoring five out of their final seven points at the charity stripe.
Inside the Numbers
- For the second consecutive game and the 15th time this season, Saint Peter's had at least 10 different players score a point.
- Edert was the star of the afternoon, scoring a career and game-high 28 points on an unmatched 7-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc and 9-for-12 shooting from the floor. The 28 points, nine field goals, and seven triples are the most by a Peacock in a single game this season. The seven made three-pointers are the most in a game by a Peacock since Dec. 14, 2013 when Desi Washington also hit seven triples. Edert also outscored the entire Peacock lineup combined in the second half with his 22 points compared to 20 by the rest of the team.
- Ndefo and Aaron Estrada were the next highest scorers for the Peacocks with eight apiece.
- Lee handed out a team-leading four dimes and made a team-high three steals, while Ndefo and Fousseyni Drame each grabbed six rebounds.
- Just like the first meeting against the Broncs, the Peacocks led for 32 minutes in the game.
- Saint Peter's out performed Rider in rebounds (36-32), points of off turnovers (18-10), points in the paint (30-22), second chance points (12-1), and bench points (54-13). The Peacock's bench scored as many points as Rider did in the entire game, in large part due to Edert.
- The 54 total points by Rider were a season-low in MAAC play for the team, making them the Peacock's seventh victim of fewest total points scored at the time they faced Saint Peter's --- the Broncs never scored under 60 in a league game this season and the team came to Jersey City averaging 71.5 points per MAAC game.
- The 19-point margin of victory over the Broncs was the largest for the Peacocks since a 20-point win over the rival in 2010-11.
- Saint Peter's continues to be the hottest team in the league, extending the current winning streak to five and the team has been victorious in nine out of the last 10 --- the five-game regular season winning streak is the longest for the team since winning the final six contests of the 2016-17 regular season.
- The Peacocks have now won seven straight and 10 out of the last 11 in the Yanitelli Center, improving the home records to 10-3 overall and 8-1 in league games.
- The eight MAAC home wins are a program record and the 10 overall home wins are the most by a Saint Peter's team in almost 30 years, having last been done by the 1990-91 MAAC Championship Peacock squad who earned 12 wins in Jersey City that season.
- Overall on the season, Saint Peter's record improved to 15-11 and the Peacocks have posted a 10-2 overall record dating back to Jan. 18, a conference-best over the time period.
- The 12 MAAC wins are also the most for the program since the 2016-17 season which produced 14 total conference wins.
Up Next
- Saint Peter's will take the annual Western New York trip next week, visiting Niagara (Feb. 27) and Canisius (Feb. 29) for the final road contests of the season.
- The Peacocks will then return to New Jersey for the regular-season finale against Iona (Mar. 6) before heading to Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for the 2020 MAAC Championship.
