Ole Miss Defeats Rider 75-51

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss defeated Rider 75-51 on Tuesday night inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. 

“Rider plays like an SEC team they try to win positions,” coach Kermit Davis said. “I am proud of our team.”

Ole Miss (5-2) had four players in double figures led by Jarkel Joiner with 18 points and 11 points coming in the second half.

“I was taking what the defense gave me,” Joiner said. “My teammates have confidence in me to shoot the ball. We have confidence in each other to shoot the ball.”

The other players that joined Joiner were Matthew Murrel (14), Robert Allen (11) and Austin Crowley (10).

“Robert Allen played with unbelievable energy tonight,” Davis said.

Rider was led on the court by Mervin James with 11 points he added nine rebounds to the stats column. His teammate Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson added 10 points of his own.

Rider’s Dimencio Vaughn made his return to the Pavilion as he scored nine points with eight rebounds.

The Rebels turned the ball over seven times against Rider.

“That is one thing we have done since June has taken care of the ball,” Davis said. “

Ole Miss cleaned up the glass with a total of 57 rebounds. That is the most team rebounds since the Troy (64) game in 2007.

“I think it is the most rebounds since 2007,” Davis said. “It allowed us to get into transition.”

Nysier Brooks led the way with 15 rebounds on the night. He tied former Rebels’ player Sebastian Saiz (15) against Georgia Tech on March 21, 2017.

“We have been emphasizing rebounding a lot,” Brooks said. “I have been focusing on the things that I am great and making sure that I do that.”

Ole Miss returns to action on Saturday as they play host to the Memphis Tigers. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN 2.

“Memphis does such a good job of scoring off the turnover and they play really hard,” Davis said.