The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team followed up its first win over a ranked opponent since 2017 with a 59-46 loss to La Salle University on Saturday.
Rhody handed Saint Louis University its first loss in conference play last Wednesday at the Ryan Center, but that momentum did not carry over for the Rams on the road against the Explorers.
It was 7-1 in favor of the Rams five minutes into the first half, started off by three fifth-year forward Keeyan Itejere free throws, but the tone quickly shifted in favor of the Explorers.
A foul by Itejere sent the Explorers to the charity stripe for the first of their 21 free throw attempts in the half. La Salle’s second-year guard Jaden Johnson sank both shots.
Less than a minute later, the Explorers were back at the free-throw line after a fifth-year Alex Crawford foul on La Salle’s third-year guard Rob Dockery. Dockery led his team in the first half, scoring 18 points, 12 of which were from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Explorers went 17-21 from the foul line in the first half, while Rhody went 5-9. La Salle’s 12-0 run was snapped by a triple from fourth-year guard Jonah Hinton, who tied a program record with nine three-pointers against Saint Louis.
Hinton also scored Rhody’s second and final triple with seven minutes left to go in the half, as the Rams finished 2-18 from beyond the arc across the game.
Rhody got within two points on an Itejere jump shot with under six minutes to go in the half, but that was as close as they’d get. From there on out, the Explorers outscored the Rams 16-4, taking a 39-25 lead into halftime.
Sixth-year guard Myles Corey began second-half scoring for the Rams with a layup, but La Salle’s first-year guard Ashton Walker responded with back-to-back three-pointers.
A 9-0 Rhody run cut the deficit to single digits, and a tip-in by first-year guard Barrett Loer at the seven-minute mark got the Rams within six points.
For the remainder of the contest, the Explorers outworked the Rams under the basket, scoring eight of their 11 final points in the paint while holding URI to four points.
Dockery finished as the Explorers’ leading scorer with 19 points, followed closely by Walker with 18. Both recorded a double-double, with 15 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Additionally, first-year forward Nas Hart secured 11 rebounds on the day.
Before the contest, the Explorers had been on a six-game losing streak, their last win being on Jan. 21 over the University of Dayton.
“It feels good, obviously, we went through a lot this entire season,” Hart said. “So, for us to battle more adversity today, get over it and end up getting the win, it felt good.”
This was the first time since Nov. 22 that the Explorers held an opponent to under 50 points.
“I thought we mixed up our coverages and did a better job, especially in the second half of getting shooters,” La Salle Head Coach Darris Nichols said. “When the defense was away from the bench, our guys were really doing a good job communicating.”
Rhody’s next game has been pushed a day and will now be played on Thursday to finish up their two-game road trip with St. Bonaventure University. The game will take place at 5 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast on The Varsity Network.
