NCAA News Wire
Rider 62, Morgan State 48
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Guard Teddy Okereafor scored 21 points as host Rider continued its recent surge with a dominant 62-48 victory over Morgan State in a nonconference game Thursday.
Center Matt Lopez added 12 point and 10 rebounds for the Broncs (6-6), who have won four of their past five games. Guard Jimmie Taylor scored 13 point for Rider.
Forward Cedric Blossom scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half for Morgan State (2-9), which shot 18 of 55 (32.7 percent) from the field. Guard Blake Bozeman added 11 points for the Bears.
Okereafor scored 15 points in the first half and Rider led 29-27 at the break. The Broncs stayed in command and Lopez scored consecutive baskets that increased the margin to 37-28 with 14 minutes left in the game.
The Bears had trouble matching up with the 7-foot Lopez, who added another dunk to provide a 44-30 lead with 12:59 left.
After a 3-pointer by Blossom pulled Morgan State to within 46-39 with 8:49 left, Rider answered with a pair of field goals by Okereafor and another jumper by Taylor to get the lead back to double-digits.
Forward Shawn Valentine made a 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining that increased the margin to 60-46 and the Broncs were never threatened the rest of the way.
