It will be a battle between Metro Atlantic Athletic opponents when the Rider Broncs (8-13) welcome the Canisius Golden Griffins (10-12) to Alumni Gymnasium. The game starts at 1:00 pm ET on Sunday, Jan. 31.
The Broncs won big over Saint Peter’s 76-45 on Thursday. Xavier Lundy led all scorers on the team with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. The Golden Griffins, meanwhile, are coming off an 84-77 loss to Fairfield on Friday. Kevin Bleeker had a team-high 19 points.
Teddy Okereafor has been playing at a high level as of late for the Broncs, averaging 18.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 three-pointer over the last five games. On the other side, the Golden Griffins have been led by Phil Valenti. He has been on fire, averaging 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.0 three-pointer in the same time frame.
Rider is favored by a small one-point margin in its matchup against Canisius. The teams combine to set the Over/Under (O/U) at 142 points. The Broncs enter the game with records of 8-13 Straight Up (SU) and 6-11 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, Canisius has a SU record of 10-12 and an ATS record of 8-10-1. The Golden Griffins will be looking to pick it up in this one after recent offensive struggles. In their most recent 10 games, their scoring has dropped to 71.9 PPG, compared to 67.2 for the duration of the season. The Golden Griffins are an excellent long-range shooting team with 201 three-point shots made (9.0 per game), ranking 27th in Division I.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time Rider and Canisius played, Rider won, moving its SU record against Canisius to 6-4 in their most recent head-to-head meetings. The Broncs also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 6-4. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers, neither team was able to hold the advantage in all three of these categories over their past five meetings against one another.
Predictions: SU Winner – Can, ATS Winner – Can, O/U – Over
Notes
Rider is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
Rider is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Rider’s last 8 games.
Rider is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Rider’s last 7 games when playing Canisius.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Rider’s last 6 games when playing at home against Canisius.
The Canisius Golden Griffins average 79.5 points per game, ranking 48th in the nation. The Rider Broncs rank 84th in points allowed with 67.5.
Rider won its last game by a 31-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Canisius is 1-1. Rider is 3-1 in blowouts this season.
With 67.0 possessions and 1.003 points per possession, the Rider Broncs perform worse on both metrics than the Canisius Golden Griffins. Canisius averages 71.9 possessions and 1.105 points per possession.
The Rider Broncs average an effective field goal percentage of 48.5% this season. The Canisius Golden Griffins have a subpar record of 5-12 when opponents have an eFG% of 48.5% or greater.
Rider attempts an average of 19.0 three pointers per game and Canisius attempts 26.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Rider Broncs have a 5-4 record while the Canisius Golden Griffins have a 9-12 record.
Canisius ranks 55th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.28. Rider is ranked lower at 217th with an A/TO of .98.
On average, Canisius makes 6.3 steals per game. Rider is a losing 5-8 when it allows at least 6 steals.
