5* Friday Night NO BRAINER on Rider +

Rider vs. Fairfield, 02/01/2013 19:00 EDT, Score: 59 - 69

Point Spread: +8/-105 Rider

Sportsbook: JustBet.cx

Result: Loss

5* Friday Night NO BRAINER on Rider +

Rider is going to be out for revenge against Fairfield here tonight. They lost back on December 9th loss at home, but in that game the Broncs shot just 37.8% from the field and made two of their seven 3-point attempts. They also turned the ball over 29 times which is uncharacteristically high for a team averaging only 16 a game and a Fairfield defense that forces 14 per contest.

There is also some value in this line due to the face that Rider is off two home upset home losses. Rebounding and defense were issues in those games and you can bet the Broncos worked hard in practice this week to correct those mistakes. The Stags on the ether hand are coming off a pair of wins, but that stopped the bleeding on a five game losing streak. This fits a nice little system that says to fade home favorites off two straight conference wins when they are playing a team off two straight double digit home losses. This situation is 44-13 ATS (77.2%) since 1997.

The numbers support our play here tonight. The Broncs are dead even on the year, scoring 64 ppg while giving up 64.1 while the Stags are outscoring their foes by 2.2 ppg. The difference is that Rider has played the tougher schedule which makes these teams even more even than their margins.

The matchup advantage to watch will be how well Rider does getting to the line. They typically shoot a higher rate of free throws than their opponents normally allow, while Fairfield is known to be a foul machine. Those extra shots from the charity stripe will add up, and keep this game close. I'll take the points in a game the Broncos could easily win outright.