Down by 18 points against the defending Ivy League Champions, a second-half comeback saw the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team remain unbeaten at the Ryan Center in a 76-72 win over the Yale Bulldogs on Sunday.
The result saw the Rams come out of November with a 5-2 record to start the year, marking their first month with a winning record since December 2021, and the first under second-year head coach Archie Miller. In a game the experienced head coach labeled “one of the best wins we’ve had at home here in awhile,” it was initially the visitors who came out of the gates with the momentum.
First-year David Fuchs opened the scoring with a mid-range jumper under a minute in – an early bucket that proved to be the only lead the Rams would enjoy through the first half. It did not take long for the Bulldogs to take hold of the game, boasting a 58% field goal percentage in the first half that saw them jump out to a 39-21 lead with just under six minutes remaining – their largest of the night. Just one game after putting up a career-high 21-point performance, second-year Danny Wolf led the way with 19 points for the Bulldogs as they controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half.
Rhode Island eventually stabilized as the half came to a close, sparked by a pair of three-point efforts from second-year Brandon Weston, who led all non-starters with eight points off the bench alongside first-year Cam Estevez, who also scored eight. The swing in momentum saw the Rams head into the break out-scoring Yale 8-5 in the final four minutes, enough to trim the visitors’ lead down to 12 points.
The Rams continued to pile on the pressure out of the locker room, starting the half on a 15-5 run to make it a one-possession game with just under 15 minutes to play. The score remained in a one-possession tilt through the next seven minutes in a second half that featured three lead changes – a stretch that saw Rhode Island come within one point of the lead four separate times. Luis Kortright missed an and-one opportunity at the line after his layup narrowed the Bulldogs’ lead to 55-54 with just under nine minutes to play, but he made up for an error with a three-point effort just 40 seconds later that gave the Rams their first lead since the opening bucket – 59-57. The basket officially completed the comeback from a double-digit first-half deficit, and although Yale battled until the end, Rhode Island ultimately never looked back from there.
“We went small to start the second half,” Miller said. “That group got out of the first four minutes…I thought the second half effort, the ability to just compete and play, was much better…If you could just bottle up the second half, in terms of the intensity level, the care, the pride, that’s where we’re trying to get it to go.”
Yale fought back to tie the score twice, but could not re-establish their lead following a pair of blocks in the final minutes from Tyson Brown and Josaphat Bilau – who made only his second appearance for the Rams after suffering a season-ending lower leg injury last year. Third-year Jaden House secured the victory from the line after drawing a foul on an offensive rebound, sinking both shots with 25 seconds left to seal the 76-72 win.
“[This is] one of the best wins we’ve had at home here in awhile,” Miller said. “I’m just proud of our guys. We beat a good team today…Hopefully this is something that can spear us on, and show us what’s possible for this group.”
Kortright finished his night with a team-leading 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half to fuel the comeback. Third-year Zek Montgomery was not far behind, marking his seventh straight game in double figures, just one rebound shy of a double-double, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds. Brown was the third player in double-figures for the Rams, putting up a career-high 10 points. As a team, only two of Rhode Island’s 10 turnovers came in the first half.
“We feel amazing right now, that’s a tough team,” Kortright said. “We knew that they [were] gonna come in and fight, but today the team showed great adversity and they showed what we can be in these coming months.”
The Rams will hope to maintain their momentum on Saturday when they head up to Providence College for the yearly installment of the storied Ocean State Rivalry, in search of their first road victory of the season at an arena that hasn’t seen a Rhode Island win since 2002. Tip-off from Amica Mutual Pavillion is set for 7:30 p.m. at the on FS1.