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 guards 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 in Mercer County. *** Stephen ‘Tank’ Byard has no problem being the glue guy. The Atlantic City native by way of Alcorn State scored 17 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished four assists. “Rebounding, play hard, do the dirty work,” Byard said when asked what his role is. “Every team needs a glue guy to do the dirty things. That’s how you win games.” Byard also made seven of his 10 free throw attempts and added a steal. “He needs to play with a sense of urgency,” Baggett said. “I thought he did some decent things, but a sense of urgency on every possession on offense and defense and he can really help us.” Baggett started with Ruben Rodriguez, T.J. Weeks Jr., Jay Alvarez, Byard and Tariq Ingraham. He closed with Rodriguez, Weeks Jr., Byard, Ingraham and Andre Young. Don’t read too much into that. “There were a lot of things we didn’t do today that we would do in a regular game,” Baggett said. “We were trying to keep things a little generic. It will be a shorter rotation. I’m trying to learn these guys and they are trying to learn me. This is why you have exhibition games.” Rider’s Tank Byard goes up with the ball against Holy Family during an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) *** 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.” Ingraham scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Weeks Jr. had 14 and 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. “Andre Young was fantastic today,” Baggett said. “Andre really stood out the most for me. He scored the ball, but I’m more happy about the way he pressured. Yes, he got beat a few times, but that wasn’t all on him.” Andre Young dribbles the ball up the court against Holy Family during an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) *** Rider only had six turnovers. … It shot 10-of-17 from beyond the arc and 24-of-33 from the foul line. Alvarez and Weeks Jr. both made four 3s. … Jason Shields scored 26 points and RJ Delahaye had 21 for Holy Family.