For the 133rd time, the University of Rhode Island and Providence College men’s basketball teams faced off in the battle for the Ocean State in front of a sold-out crowd at the Amica Mutual Pavillion on Saturday, before Rhode Island returned home to face Brown Wednesday.
The Friars took down the Rams 84-69 in Saturday’s contest, for their fourth straight victory over the Rams.
The Friars entered the matchup 6-1, while Rhody were 5-2 and hungry for their first win over PC since 2019.
The game started with the teams going back and forth for the first few minutes, as the hosts led 10-7 with 15:28 to go.
The teams continued to battle to the next media timeout where Providence led the Rams 15-11. The Friars had two blocked shots early – a key part of their suffocating defense.
PC’s first-year forward Rich Barron and URI’s fourth-year Jaden House traded three-pointers to electrify and then silence the crowd with 9:14 remaining in the first half. The Friars led 18-15 before the teams quickly added to their totals, as Rams’ first-year center David Fuchs slammed home a dunk to cut the Friars lead to 23-20. Following the dunk, a timeout was called with 7:08 to go.
The teams continued to trade scores until the Friars’ first-year Garwey Dual helped PC score two quick buckets with 1:49 remaining in the first half. The scores extended Providence’s lead to seven, 35-28.
Rhode Island responded right away with a layup from second-year Josaphat Bilau, and then as time expired, fourth-year Luis Kortright banked one in off the backboard. The layups made the score 35-32 at the break.
Bilau had seven rebounds at the half, helping the Rams keep it close.
Following halftime, the Rams tied the game at 38 before Providence went on a 7-0 run capped off by a layup from fifth-year Josh Oduro, who had prior history with the Rams after going against them with the George Mason University basketball team last year. The layup gave the Friars a 47-40 lead with 15:59 to play.
Rhody and PC continued to go back and forth as the Friars lead stayed at seven with 11:49 to play, 54-47.
“If we can bottle that 30 [minutes] and continue to clean things up offensively and keep working towards bringing that type of energy level, we have a chance to be a really good team,” URI Head Coach Archie Miller said postgame.
The teams continued to battle as Providence held the seven-point buffer strong, leading 63-56 with 8:22 to play.
Then, URI started to slip as PC’s third-year forward Bryce Hopkins slammed home a big-time dunk to blow the roof off the Amica Mutual Pavillion. The dunk extended the Friars lead to 13 up 69-56 with 7:11 to play.
“I thought Bryce really came on in the second half,” Miller said postgame. “The physicality, the experience level, he continued to stay with it.”
From there, the Friars held strong, keeping the Rams at distance before wrapping up a 84-69 victory over their rivals from the south.
“These games are great for this state,” Friars Head Coach Kim English said after the win. “Getting to feel the excitement and the buzz around downtown.”
The loss marked the fourth straight victory for the Friars over the Rams, continuing a streak of 21 years that Rhody had fallen in the state’s capital.
On Wednesday Rhode Island returned home to face another in-state rival, the Brown University Bears.
In a back and forth battle the Bears defeated the Rams 67-64, where the Bears led by a maximum of 11 points before Rhody clawed back within three. URI had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but second-year Brandon Weston dropped the inbound pass that would have set up a three point attempt.
The Rams fell to 5-4 following the losses and will travel to face the College of Charleston Cougars on Sunday at 2 p.m..