Rider’s Flash Burton drives to the basket against Mount St. Mary’s during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Zion Cruz, right, drives to the basket as Mount St. Mary’s Patrick Haigh, left, defends during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Tariq Ingraham, left, tries to spin past Mount St. Mary’s Jedy Cordilia, right, during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s Ruben Rodriguez brings the ball up the court against Mount St. Mary’s during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Rider’s T.J. Weeks Jr. walks to the bench during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Show Caption1 of 5Rider’s Flash Burton drives to the basket against Mount St. Mary’s during a MAAC men’s basketball game on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Expand LAWRENCEVILLE — The difference in the Rider men’s basketball team over the last two games is obvious to Ruben Rodriguez. “Just bringing the energy every day,” the sophomore said. The Broncs took another step forward with a 66-60 victory over Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium for their second straight win after snapping a nine-game losing streak. “If we just keep that same intensity, honestly, the sky is the limit for our team,” Rodriguez said. “The coaches have been saying it, we’ve been saying it to each other, but we got to be about it. Just bring that energy every day in practice, film, the games … just be consistent.” That starts with Rodriguez. He is, after all, the point guard. “Coach tells me all the time being a point guard is a huge responsibility,” said Rodriguez, who had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. “I just try and take that challenge every day and make everybody better and try to give (coach) and the players some ease when we are on the court.” It hasn’t been an easy season for Rodriguez. After starting the first nine games, he came off the bench in three of the next four before being reinserted into the first five for the last four. He’s the only 2,000-point scorer at Pennsylvania powerhouse Reading High — a school that produced NBA players Donyell Marshall, Stu Jackson and Lonnie Walker IV — but that hasn’t translated to the college level yet. “I’ve had meetings with my coaches and they’ve told me to just be you,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve tried to get back to being me and my shot is going to fall eventually. I’m not worried about that. I’m trying to make every play I can to help the team get a win.” If the shot isn’t falling, that means doing other things to help your team win. Ball pressure on defense, getting in passing lanes, helping on the glass, setting up others. Check, check, check and check for Rodriguez on Thursday night as he collected seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, while turning the ball over just once in 32 minutes. Coach Kevin Baggett compared it to what Corey McKeithan — now at La Salle — went through in the early part of last season when he was asked to be the starting point guard for the first time. “Ruben is growing into that role and understanding that it starts and ends with him,” Baggett said. “We trust him. I told him that he has to keep taking those shots because those are shots he can make, shots that he works on. … Ruben is a winner, man. That’s what he’s always been. He makes winning plays.” Like when he hustled along the sideline to force the ball off a Mount St. Mary’s player late in the second half to help close out the win. He wasn’t the only one on Thursday night making those kind of plays. Jay Alavarez scored 19 points, including a poster dunk over a defender, T.J. Weeks Jr. had a huge offensive rebound and putback of a missed free throw with 1:31 left that made it a seven-point game and Flash Burton netted 14 points off the bench with a pair of 3s to match the number he had made all season. The Broncs (6-11, 2-4) finished with 16 steals — the first time they recorded that many in a game since doing it three times during the 2018-19 season (vs. Robert Morris, Northern Colorado and Niagara). They also forced 25 turnovers in a game for the first time since Jan. 31, 2019 against Saint Peter’s. It was a night of statistical oddities: Rider ended up plus-17 in turnover margin (25-8) and outscored the Mount, 20-7, in points off turnovers. That proved important because the Mountaineers (11-6, 4-2) were plus-21 on the glass (50-29). The Mount had more turnovers (25) than made field goals (22). Burton also had four steals, with Alvarez (three), Weeks Jr. and Zion Cruz (two each) and Tariq Ingraham (one) also getting in on the act. “All the credit goes to the guys,” Baggett said. “They’ve rallied since that loss we had at Canisius. They are all working hard. You can hear the energy on the bench and when guys come in the game they bring the same energy. That’s what we need to do if we are going to climb back up in the standings.” Next up is a trip to first-place Marist, which has won nine in a row and sits at 6-0 in the MAAC. “We’re going to play a good Marist team,” Rodriguez said. “It’s another challenge and we got to knock it out the way. If we bring the intensity then nobody can stop us.” Better now than never. “We have a lot of games left and it’s a long season,” Rodriguez said. “We just got to take it game by game and stay in the moment. Fix what is happening in the moment and keep moving on.” Rider Gameday WHO: Rider (6-11, 2-4) at Marist (13-2, 6-0) WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., McCann Arena, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. TV: ESPN+ LAST TIME OUT: Rider def. Mount St. Mary’s, 66-60; Marist def. Saint Peter’s, 56-51 STREAK: Rider W2; Marist W9 SERIES HISTORY: Rider leads, 42-28. The Red Foxes swept the two games last season and are 4-3 in the last seven. The Broncs had won nine straight in the series prior to that. NCAA NET RANK: Rider 332; Marist 204 KENPOM RANK: Rider 327; Marist 204 SCOUTING MARIST: John Dunne’s Red Foxes are off to a 6-0 start in the MAAC for the first time — they joined the league the same year Rider did in 1997 — after grinding out a victory over Saint Peter’s in Jersey City. “John Dunne knows me just as well as I know him. We’ve been in the league the longest. I root for him outside of us. It will be fun to go down there. We’ve been pretty good on the road, so we’ll take the challenge and see what we can get down,” Baggett said. Guard Josh Pascarelli (16.8 points, 44% from 3) is among the best players in the MAAC, while guard Elijah Lewis, a transfer from Division II Adelphi, has blossomed into a 12.8 points-per-game player at the Division I level. Jackson Price is a 6-8 center who can step outside and knock down shots (he averages 10.7 points and shoots the 3 at 34.3%).