Rider Broncs vs Syracuse Orange Match Player Stats On Dec 05, 2020

Alan Griffin scored 23 points and Joe Girard III added 21 Saturday night as Syracuse never trailed and rolled to an 87-52 victory over visiting Rider, which was playing its season opener.

The Orange (3-0) posted their second straight lopsided win over a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent after struggling to beat Bryant in their season opener on Sunday. They dominated from the opening tip without leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, who missed a second straight game while quarantining after being in close contact with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19.

Griffin scored 16 points in the first half when Syracuse made 12 of 18 3-pointers. He hit his first four 3-pointers and shot 8 of 11 from the floor overall.

Girard scored 13 points in the blistering opening 20 minutes and made 6 of 12 3-point tries after missing 12 of 15 3-point attempts in the first two games.

Quincy Guerrier added 11 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse, which shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) and hit 15 3-pointers overall.

Griffin and Girard also combined for 10 assists as Syracuse finished with 24 helpers.

Rider (0-1) played its first game with 12 newcomers after losing nine players from last year's 18-win team. Projected to finish last in the 11-team MAAC, the Broncs traveled to Syracuse after its first three games against Penn State, Rutgers and Fairleigh Dickson were called off due to a positive coronavirus test in their program.

Dwight Murray Jr. scored 20 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Murray was Rider's lone double-figure scorer as the Broncs shot 29.3 percent (17-of-58)

Syracuse came out scorching, hitting eight of its first nine 3-point attempts, 10 of its first 12 shots overall and took a 29-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Girard with 10:54 remaining. The lead grew to 46-20 on a 3-pointer by Woody Newton with 3:29 remaining and the Orange held a comfortable 49-29 lead at halftime.

Syracuse started slowly in the second half but took its first 30-point lead on a 3-point play by Guerrier that made it 66-35 with 9:33 remaining.

--Field Level Media