The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team won back-to-back conference games for the first time this season with a wire-to-wire 86-71 victory over La Salle University on Saturday.
The Rams took to the Ryan Center court coming off a comeback 68-64 win against St. Bonaventure University on Feb. 12, in which third-year guard Jamarques Lawrence converted a game-winning four-point play with two seconds remaining. No such heroics were needed this time, however, as Rhody jumped out to a 15-point lead in the opening 14 minutes and never gave it away.
“I believe our offense carried us today, which was great to see from the start to the finish,” URI Head Coach Archie Miller said. “We’re starting to get a little rhythm this week, which was great to be able to do that at home.”
With his family from Toronto, Canada in attendance, fifth-year center Javonte Brown made an impact on both ends of the court. He scored seven points in the first five minutes and maintained that energy throughout the afternoon, collecting his second double-double of the year with 13 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
“I haven’t seen family in a little while because they’re all the way back home in Toronto,” Brown said. “But it was good to play in front of family again.”
Unlike their past three games where they trailed by double-digits in the first half, the Rams were able to get off to a quick start aided by a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 34-19. The Explorers struggled from the field early, starting the game 5-21 that included a four-minute scoring drought.
La Salle creeped its way back into the game, though, by going on a 10-1 run in the final four minutes of the half. The run was capped off by a last-second three-ball from fifth-year guard Corey McKeithan to cut the Rams’ lead to just 38-34 heading into the locker room.
Rhode Island allowed the game to get no closer than that, opening the second half with a rapid 6-0 run in less than a minute to stretch its lead back out to double-digits. On the first possession of the half, fourth-year guard Sebastian Thomas delivered an alley-oop to Brown, who converted with a foul.
The Explorers continued to hang around and were able to cut their deficit down to five on a corner three by fifth-year guard Jahlil White with 4:30 left. The Rams got a response from fourth-year guard Jaden House, who had a team-leading 14 points, when he made a baseline jumper with 3:30 left. On the next two possessions, Thomas gathered his ninth and 10th assists of the game by finding second-year forward David Fuchs for a couple of buckets to put the game out of reach.
The Rams shot 60% from the field in the 86-71 win and made their last five attempts of the game. By knocking down a three in the waning seconds, fourth-year forward Drissa Traore became the sixth member of the Rams to score in double figures for the game.
“Offensively, we’re playing better and I think that helps with our guys’ confidence,” Miller said. “I’m happy for our guys. I think as a coaching staff we’ve searched all January and February to find a way to get our rhythm back.”
Looking ahead, Rhode Island gets a week to reset following the win and prepares to hit the road for a matchup with Saint Louis University. This matchup serves as an opportunity for Rhody to continue their climb up the Atlantic 10 Conference standings with the fifth-ranked Billikens currently two spots ahead of them. However, it’s been a struggle all season for the Rams away from the Ryan Center with a 1-6 road record and four consecutive road losses.
“It’s very difficult to win in our league on the road, we haven’t been great on the road,” Miller said. “But, I think we’re going to be better on the road down the stretch, I think we have some confidence that we have some things figured out on our end that we can do a little better.”
Rhode Island will see if these adjustments pay off against Saint Louis at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised on the USA Network, with a radio broadcast available on The Varsity Network.
