LAWRENCEVILLE — Zion Cruz sat out Rider’s exhibition game on Saturday afternoon as he waits on a waiver from the NCAA to clear him for play. “It’s an eligibility thing,” coach Kevin Baggett said after an 84-79 victory over Division II Holy Family at Alumni Gymnasium. “We’re waiting on a waiver that is being presented and hopefully will come back in our favor.” The issue stems from Cruz’s previous stop at Pratt Community College. “There’s no academic issues whatsoever,” Baggett said. “He’s doing well in school. This is just a little bit of a hiccup coming from the junior college.” Baggett doesn’t know if Cruz will be cleared in time for the Nov. 4 season opener at UCLA. “I don’t know anything other than to wait,” Baggett said. “I don’t have patience because we’ve been dealing this for a little while now.” The Trenton native was a highly sought after prospect coming out of high school. He played at Hudson Catholic, the Patrick School and Donda Academy in California. He was ranked second nationally among shooting guard in the 2022 class and 37th overall by 247Sports.com, was the 49th best prospect according to Rivals and No. 72 at ESPN. Cruz spent one season at DePaul and then transferred to Pratt CC in Kansas before returning home to play for Rider. *** Baggett would rather have a competitive game like this than a 30-point blowout against a Division III opponents. The Broncs led by as many as 10 in the second half before Holy Family rallied to tie the game. “I can get their attention now,” Baggett said. “I keep trying to tell these guys that we’re getting ready to go play UCLA and San Diego. We didn’t play up to their level. Once we gave them confidence, we were in for a game. Give those guys credit because they played smarter than we did. We defended just enough for us to win.” Tariq Ingraham scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Tank Byard finished with 17 points, T.J. Weeks Jr. had 14 and Jay Alvarez scored 13. “I loved the environment,” Byard said. “Holy Family came in here and played a great game and punched us in the mouth. On Monday, we’re going to come into practice with more of a sense of urgency. Definitely paying attention to the little things.” *** Baggett had praise for guard Andre Young off the bench. A product of Pebblebrook High in Georgia — the same school that produced Dwight Murray Jr. and Mervin James — Young finished with eight points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. He was also a plus-7. Baggett used a closing lineup of Ruben Rodrugiez, Young, Weeks Jr., Byard and Ingraham.