Kevin Baggett watched Quinnipiac’s victory over Iona this weekend and knew his team was going to be up against when facing the preseason favorite in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Add in that Rider was without Zion Cruz due to a groin injury he suffered on Thursday at Merrimack and the ta sk got even tougher. The Bobcats looked every bit the preseason favorite as they scored the game’s first 12 points, led by as many as 20 in the first half and were never seriously threatened in handing the Broncs a 72-58 setback on Sunday afternoon at MT Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn. “I don’t think there are a lot of teams in our league equipped to come back from that,” Baggett said. “I saw what they did to Iona the other day and Iona never recovered. I thought our guys competed. If we had come out with the right mindset and not been as nervous and just came out more aggressive than we would have been fine and not put ourself in that hole.” Rider (1-7, 0-2), which lost its fifth straight game, trailed by as many as 21 in the second half. It cut that 21-point deficit to nine midway through the second half after connecting on four consecutive 3s — two from Antwan Wilson (13 points) and one each from AB Couilbaly and Kirstupas Kepezinskas — after having misfired on all of the long-range attempts prior. Jordan Zimmerman (19 points) made a 3 for Quinnipiac (7-3, 2-0) to push the lead back to 12 and the home team kept a double-digit advantage the remainder of the game. Coulibaly, a freshman from Philadelphia, netted 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 32 minutes. “He was a little down on himself the last game, a little nervous,” Baggett said. “We gave him a hard time, just teasing him about being nervous and that got him to come out and play with a good energy and get off to a good start. I’m happy for him. He puts the work in.” The Broncs return home on Tuesday against Bucknell for the first of three non-conference games. “We have to get off this losing streak and take care of home,” Baggett said. “Good teams don’t stay on losing streaks, good teams don’t have three, four, five consecutive losses. We just need to get one win to get some confidence. I believe in this group.” ...read more read less