The Rider Broncs and Iona Gaels meet Wednesday in the college basketball MAAC Quarterfinal at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. The Rider Broncs look for a win after splitting their last 10 games. The Iona Gaels look for a win after winning six of their last eight games.
The Rider Broncs are averaging 67.3 points on 40.6 percent shooting and allowing 69.2 points on 41.3 percent shooting. Dwight Murray Jr. is averaging 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, while Dimencio Vaughn is averaging 12.5 points and 1.3 assists. Allen Powell is the third double-digit scorer and Mervin James is dishing 0.7 assists. The Rider Broncs are shooting 30.8 percent from beyond the arc and 73.6 percent from the free throw line. The Rider Broncs are allowing 33.8 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 34.7 rebounds per game.
The Iona Gaels are averaging 75.4 points on 44.6 percent shooting and allowing 68.2 points on 41.1 percent shooting. Tyson Jolly is averaging 14.5 points and 4.9 rebounds, while Nelly Junior Joseph is averaging 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds. Elijah Joiner is the third double-digit scorer and Quinn Slazinksi is grabbing 3.2 rebounds. The Iona Gaels are shooting 33 percent from beyond the arc and 69.7 percent from the free throw line. The Iona Gaels are allowing 29.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 34.6 rebounds per game.
The Broncs are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Gaels are 16-4-1 ATS in their last 21 neutral site games and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Broncs last 5 neutral site games. The under is 7-1 in Gaels last 8 overall. The favorite is 3-1-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
The Iona Gaels are the better team, obviously, and should be favored, but Rider hung around in the last meeting and is playing decent ball at the moment. Rider also loses by an average of just 5.4 points in the underdog role. The Iona Gaels do have trouble at times pulling away from opponents, and they’ve failed to cover eight of their last 11 games. I’ll take a stab with the points here and the Broncs.