The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team defeated conference foe Duquesne University, 77-74, this past Saturday night at the Ryan Center, before traveling and losing to Davidson College, 65-54, on Tuesday night.
Against Duquesne, Rhode Island went into halftime holding a 42-35 lead. The Rams connected on over 61 percent (16-26) of their shots in the first 20 minutes, with six of those being 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Jared Terrell led Rhode Island at the half with 11 points and five assists. Davidson was still in the game at the break, due in part to the  play of their guard Micah Mason, who tallied 13 points.
In the second half, Duquesne made it tough for the Rams to get the home win. The Dukes started a 14-4 run just under the eighteen minute mark in the half to cut the Rhode Island lead to 51-50 with 13:36 to play. Rhode Island was tied with the Dukes, 60-60, with 8:27 to go, but they pulled away on the strength of their defensive intensity. Rhode Island held Duquesne scoreless over the next four minutes to build a 66-60 lead with 4:31 left to play. The Rams held on to their lead to wrap up a hard fought home Atlantic 10 conference win.
The Rams were led by; Terrell with 20 points, five assists, one rebound, and one steal, sophomore guard Jarvis Garrett with 17 points, eight assists, four steals, and four rebounds, and junior forward Hassan Martin who had 19 points and four blocks.
“I thought that their three best players; (Gill, Mason, Colter) had decent nights but Hassan, Jared, and Jarvis out played those guys,†head coach Dan Hurley said. “I thought Jared especially played lights out tonight.”
On Tuesday night, Rhode Island visited Davidson at the John M. Belk Arena in North Carolina, trailing the Wildcats 32-24 at the half. The Rams managed to climb their way out of an early hole, in which they trailed 18-4.
The second half also did not favor URI, as Davidson held the lead throughout. The closest the Rams came was a seven point deficit, making it 53-46 with 7:23 left in regulation. Rhode Island was again led by Terrell who scored a team high 13 points to go along with five boards and two blocks on the night.
The Rams again fell below .500 in the conference and despite their postseason aspirations now depending solely on a run in the A-10 tournament, they are still taking it one game at a time.
“I don’t know who we play on Tuesday so don’t ask me, we are just focused on this one game,” Hurley said following Saturday night’s win.
Rhode Island’s next game will be against Dayton on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 12:00 p.m., in a rematch of their epic thriller from a couple weeks back.