COLLEGE PARK — Maryland was in a 14-point hole against Rider, and coach Mark Turgeon had tried just about everything to get his team back in the game.
Time to break out the press.
“We were desperate,” he conceded.
The third-ranked Terrapins got the turnovers they needed and freshman Diamond Stone did his part on the offense end, fueling a second-half surge that resulted in a 65-58 victory on Friday night.
Maryland (3-0) trailed 43-29 with 15:56 remaining when Turgeon took a timeout and called for a half-court trap.
Stone made a layup out of the timeout, and the Terrapins promptly forced a turnover that led to a basket by Jake Layman. Another Rider turnover resulted in a follow-dunk by Stone, and the sellout crowd of 17,950 roared as the Broncos took a timeout.
“We went to it, the crowd got into it and it got our offense going,” Turgeon said of the press.
Maryland grabbed the lead for the first time when Rasheed Sulaimon scored on a runner in the lane with 5:19 left to make it 52-50.
It was 61-58 when Rider’s Kahlil Thomas misfired on the front end of a 1-and-1. Sulaimon missed two foul shots on the other end, but Layman grabbed the rebound and clinched it with a pair of free throws.
Layman had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Robert Carter Jr. scored 13 points and Stone added 12, including eight in a 15-3 spurt that got the Terrapins to 46-44. After starting the first two games, the 6-foot-11 Stone came off the bench to go 6-for-7 from the floor with five rebounds.
“We don’t win the game without him,” Turgeon said. “He was terrific.”
Stone was delighted to contribute after scoring only 15 points in his first two college games.
“I just figured I could be a spark and try to help us win or take the lead, at best,” Stone said.
Thomas led Rider (0-3) with 14 points. After opening with losses to Princeton and La Salle, the Broncos gave the heavily favored Terrapins all they could handle.
“It’s definitely disappointing. You want to win,” Rider coach Kevin Baggett said. “Maryland is a great team and a great program, but we were right there.”
After an emotional 75-71 win over Georgetown, Maryland could not match Rider’s intensity at the outset.
“I’m going to take a lot of blame for the way we played,” Turgeon said. “I didn’t have us ready.”
The Terrapins quickly fell behind, 11-5, trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and grabbed only four more rebounds despite owning a decided height advantage.
After rallying to 31-29 at the break, Maryland went scoreless for the opening four minutes of the second half while the Broncos got points from four different players in a 12-0 run.
Sulaimon finally put the Terrapins in front, but the Broncos weren’t quite done. Two free throws by Teddy Okereafor tied it before Melo Trimble hit a 3-pointer and Layman scored on a follow.
A layup by Stone made it 59-54, but consecutive baskets by Thomas cut the gap to 59-58 with 1:09 remaining.
Rider took only six free throws, compared to 22 for the Terrapins.
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