Rider’s Zion Cruz, right, drives to the basket as Stony Brook’s Collin O’Connor, left, defends during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Tariq Ingraham, center, holds the ball as teammate Zion Cruz, right, runs past and Stony Brook’s CJ Luster II, left, defends during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Jay Alvarez, right, shoots over the defense of Stony Brook’s Collin O’Connor, left, during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Flash Burton passes the ball against Stony Brook during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Show Caption1 of 4Rider’s Zion Cruz, right, drives to the basket as Stony Brook’s Collin O’Connor, left, defends during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Expand LAWRENCEVILLE — Remember that decent start Rider got off to this season? Evaporated like a puddle on a 100-degree New Jersey summer afternoon. The Broncs slumped to a fifth straight loss following an uninspired 72-55 defeat to Stony Brook in a Saturday afternoon matinee at Alumni Gymnasium. “It was not a good performance today,” coach Kevin Baggett said. “We got to play together as a team. It starts there and not as individuals,” the coach continued when asked if there were things the team was doing earlier in the season that it’s not now. “We’ve been struggling to communicate on both ends of the court. We have to do a better job of doing that.” How hard was it to watch? A team shooting 27.3% on 3-pointers came into town and sank 13 triples at a 52% clip. That added up to a 39-6 advantage from beyond the arc for the Seawolves because Rider was 2-for-11. The home team only attempted four 3s in the second half. “Our 3-point field goal defense has been brutal this year,” Baggett said. “We won’t crowd the ball enough, we’re not comfortable or confident enough to get into the ball and that’s been hurting us all year long.” The Broncs missed eight more free throws and were out-rebounded (34-25) for a third straight game. Stony Brook got 11 offensive boards and was plus-10 in second-chance points. “We’ve got guys not playing with confidence. Guys we are counting on,” Baggett said. “We got to get those guys back. I think guys are thinking too much and not playing. There’s just a lot of breakdowns. Guys doing the wrong thing at times. We’ve got to move the ball, we’ve got to cut harder. The difference was they played harder than us.” CJ Luster II made six of his nine 3-point attempts to lead all scorers with 20 points as Stony Brook (3-7) snapped a five-game skid. Joe Octave added 14 and Ben Wight finished with 12. The Seawolves seized control of the game with a 14-3 run to close the first half after Rider had briefly gone in front, 21-20. The Broncs cut a 10-point halftime deficit to five early in the second half before Stony Brook again stretched the advantage with a barrage of 3s. Flash Burton and Jay Alvarez had 13 points each for Rider (4-7), which couldn’t solve a Seawolves defense that was doubling Tariq Ingraham (seven points, three rebounds) when he did catch it on the block and then shading the entry passes. “They packed it in and forced us or bet on us to shoot and we had open shots,” Baggett said. “We didn’t make them. All I know is get back to practice. It starts to me.” The Broncs have the rest of this month to figure it out before MAAC play resumes on Jan. 5. They are already in an 0-2 hole. “You can’t drop your head,” Baggett said. “I’m sure we’ll get crushed. I’ll get crushed, but OK. We got to go to work. That’s all I know. Do your job better.” Weeks Off Leading scorer T.J. Weeks Jr. did not play due to a right shoulder injury. Weeks Jr. picked up the knock last time out against Quinnipiac when dove on the floor for a loose ball and landed awkwardly. He came out of that game with 6:30 minutes remaining and did not return. Weeks Jr. had started all 10 games before missing out on Saturday, averaging 13.1 points and five rebounds. “I thought T.J. might give it a try today, but he didn’t feel comfortable,” Baggett said. Andre Young (illness) also missed the game. Up Next Rider makes the short trip to Philadelphia to take on Penn at the Palestra on Friday night. The Broncs have three Philadelphians on the roster — Tariq Ingraham, Ife West-Ingram and Burton — and special assistant to the head coach Mike Jordan is a 2000 Penn graduate and former assistant at the Ivy League school. Ingraham and Burton both played their high school ball in the famed Philadelphia Catholic League. Ingraham at Bonner-Prendergast and Burton at Cardinal O’Hara.