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Philly contingent boosts Rider's on-court chemistry

11/11/2017, 9:15am EST
By Austin Petolillo

Stevie Jordan (above) is one of several Rider Broncs basketball players with Philly roots. (Photo courtesy Rider Athletics)

Austin Petolillo (@AustinPSports)
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Heading into their freshmen seasons in 2016, Rider point guard Stevie Jordan and Rider center Tyere Marshall were certainly no stranger to one another.

A pair of Philadelphia natives, Jordan and Marshall first met as AAU teammates on the Under Armour Association circuit in 2015, as both played for Philly Pride under the direction of Marshall’s high school coach, former Philly high school standout and longtime Euro pro Sean Colson.

“We had great chemistry heading into our freshmen seasons last year,” Jordan said. “And we even made a better chemistry because he knows what I can do, I know what he can do and I believe in him, he’s a good player and I think we bring out the best in each other.”

“He played a big part in me coming here, because I knew his strengths and I knew he can help me be a better player on the court,” Marshall said of Jordan.

Jordan, a 5-11 point guard, attended Conwell-Egan his first three seasons and led the Eagles to a PIAA AA state title in 2015 before going down to Texas and playing for Advanced Prep International (API) his senior season.

Playing at API was practically like playing for an all-star team, as Jordan was teammates with the likes of top Division I prospects such as Terrance Ferguson (Oklahoma City Thunder), Trevon Duval (Duke), Mark Vital (Baylor), Billy Preston (Kansas) and Malik Curry (Miami).

Marshall, a 6-9 power forward, attended Martin Luther King Jr. HS, winning a Philadelphia Public League championship in 2014, and then went on to do a post-grad year at Putnam Science Academy in 2015-16.

Both players had a huge impact in their sophomore season debuts, leading the Broncs to a  90-75 victory over Hampton on Friday night

Jordan finished the game with 17 points to go along with six assists and two steals in 28 minutes of game time.

Jordan was the lone Bronc to earn preseason All-MAAC honors as he was named to third team All-MAAC after earning All-MAAC rookie team honors last season leading the conference in assists with 5.6 and finished 5th in assists for freshmen behind NBA first-round picks Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr. He also averaged 11.7 ppg while playing 31.3 mpg.

Jordan is also the lone returning starter to this season’s Rider team as the four other starters from last season graduated.


Tyere Marshall (above) collected a double-double in his sophomore season debut. (Photo courtesy Rider Athletics)

Marshall, on the other hand, only averaged 4.0 ppg and 3.9 rpg in 12.9 mpg, but those numbers will increase as he has positioned himself as the starting center for this Rider team.

In 29 minutes of action Friday night, Marshall recorded a double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling in 12 rebounds

“I was behind Kahlil Thomas and Norville Carey, just two great big men,” Marshall said. “Just learning from them and competing with them everyday and trying to build more chemistry with Stevie because I knew that was my point guard going forward.”

In addition to Jordan and Marshall, Rider also has former Abington high school guard Anthony Durham on the team. The 6-3 Durham, a redshirt junior, scored 13 points while dishing out one assist and grabbing four rebounds. Durham also went perfect from beyond the arc, going 3-for-3.

Rider also has former Constitution high school teammates Kimar Williams and Ahmad Gilbert on the team but both will be redshirting this year due to NCAA transfer rules. Williams transferred from Florida International University where he averaged 6.6 ppg before suffering a season-ending knee injury in January of last year while Gilbert only averaged 1.7 ppg last season at Minnesota.

Rider only returns five players who saw action last year including Jordan, Marshall, Durham, 5-9 junior guard Kealan Washington-Ives and 6-5 wing Dimencio Vaughn; Vaughn is a redshirt freshman this season due to a torn ACL suffered last December.

Rider added three transfers eligible to play this season: 6-7 forward Karamoko Cisse (Gillette College), 6-foot-8 forward Devine Eke (Maine) and 6-8 forward Fredrick Scott (DePaul) all join the Broncs.

Scott also recorded a double-double on Friday, scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

The Bronc that made the biggest impact in the opener was redshirt freshman guard Jordan Allen from Dover, Delaware. The 6-4 Allen made his college debut and he did not fail to impress.

After only scoring five points in the first half, Allen absolutely lit it up in the second half, scoring 16 points, 12 of them courtesy of the long-ball. Allen finished the game with 21 points to go along with four rebounds.

With six guys hitting at least one shot from deep, the Broncs certainly aren’t lacking in the three-point shooter department.

“This is definitely the best shooting team that I’ve had as the head coach here and one of the better shooting teams since I’ve came here 12 years ago,” Rider coach Kevin Baggett said.

Up next for the Broncs is a tough test as they’ll be going up against 17th ranked Xavier in Cincinnati on Monday night.


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