ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Rider (3-1) took an early lead and never let the Navy (1-2) basketball team cut too far into the margin in a 90-79 victory by the Broncs over the Mids Tuesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

"I am just disappointed," said Navy head coach Ed DeChellis.  "It was the worst game we have played (this year).  I know we have only played three real games, but this was the worst of the three we have played.  No defense, no rebounding.  If you let a team shoot almost 53 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three, you are not winning.  If you get outrebounded, you are not winning."

Rider had the hot hand early as it used a 10-0 run to take a 17-10 lead eight minutes into the game. Navy cut the margin down to four points at 26-22 only to see the Broncs open up 31-22 and 34-24 leads.  The Broncs then built a 43-32 lead with just under three minutes remaining.

"I didn't think we had any spirit or juice defensively the first 10 minutes," said DeChellis.  "That let Rider get comfortable, and they gained a lot of confidence.  Credit to them (Rider), they made every big shot and they made every big play."

The teams went into the locker room at halftime with Rider in front by the score of 47-35.  The Broncs shot 58 percent from the field, made 7-10 three-point shots and were a perfect 10-10 from the foul line in the opening 20 minutes.  Individually, Jay Alvarez was 4-5 from three-point land and Ife West-Ingram was 4-4 from the floor.  Conversely, the Mids made 42 percent of their shots from the floor, were 6-14 from beyond the arc and made 7-9 free throw attempts.  The Broncs had just one more offensive rebounds than the Mids, but Rider held a 13-6 edge in second-chance points scored.

Navy was able to cut the deficit down to eight points (47-39) less than one minute into the second half.  The margin would hover between eight and 11 points until Alvarez made his fifth triple of the game to extend the gap to 65-53 with 10:18 showing on the clock.  It returned to an eight-point game, then Rider then built a 75-61 lead with 5:44 left to play.

The Mids chipped away at the margin and a Jinwoo Kim three-point basket drew the Mids to within seven points at 75-68 with 3:35 remaining.  Rider had two field goal attempts on the next possession which ended with an offensive foul and 3:14 on the clock.  Navy sent the ball inside to Aidan Kehoe, who converted an inside move to make it a 75-70 score.  Rider scored on the ensuing possession and then made a defensive stop.  Flash Burton was promptly fouled and he made both attempts from the foul line with 2:24 on the clock to stretch the lead to 79-70.

The teams exchanged baskets (81-72) then Austin Benigni scored on a drive through the lane and Navy called its last timeout down 81-74 with 74 seconds on the clock.  When play resumed, the Mids sent Ruben Rodriguez to the foul line and he missed both attempts with 1:10 remaining.   

Benigni scored (81-76) with just over one minute to play.  Burton was fouled again for Rider and he made one of two foul shots with 53.1 seconds left (82-75).  Benigni scored again in the lane and it was suddenly a four-point game at 82-78 with 41.2 seconds still to play.  The Broncs would go 8-8 from the free throw line over the remaining seconds to seal the victory.

"We all took turns making a mistake, whether it was offensive mistakes or defensive mistakes," said DeChellis.  "That was disappointing, but credit to them (Rider); they made shots, they are a hard team to guard with their athleticism. We knew were going to be in for a tough game.  We just didn't play well individually and the team didn't play well."

The Broncs ended the game shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, made 10-19 three-point shots and were 26-32 (81.3%) from the free throw line. Navy shot 43.3 percent from the field, was 7-25 from beyond the arc and was 20-25 (80%) from the charity stripe.

Rider won the battle of the boards, 37-26.  Despite the Broncs holding just a 13-11 edge in offensive boards, they held a 21-6 advantage in second-chance points.  Navy did force more turnovers, 16-8, and held a 16-7 lead in points after turnovers.

Benigni totaled 23 points on 6-16 shooting from the floor and an 11-14 effort from the foul line.

Kehoe set a new career high with 17 points. He was 8-10 from the field in his 35 minutes of playing time.  Kim also set a personal high for points with 10.

Navy returns to Alumni Hall Sunday when it plays host to Campbell.