March 10, 2004

Box Score

By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer

DAYTON, Ohio - Steve Mello hit two key first-half 3-pointers and Rhode Island's defense held La Salle to 25-percent shooting in a 55-42 victory on Wednesday in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Rhode Island (19-12) advances to meet George Washington (17-10) in a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal at the University of Dayton Arena.

The Rams played most of the game without leading scorer Dawan Robinson, ninth in the league at 16.4 points a game.

Midway through the first half, Robinson flipped over a defender while making a layup and landed hard on the floor. He was helped to the dressing room and did not return. He sustained a severe back contusion and was listed as questionable for the quarterfinals.

Brian Woodward scored 11 points to lead the Rams, who have won five of their last six. Nine players scored for Rhode Island, which hit just 34 percent of its shots from the field.

David Bell had 15 points and Steven Smith added nine points and 11 rebounds for La Salle (10-20), which ended the season with seven consecutive losses. The Explorers made just 12 of 49 shots from the field (24.5 percent).

La Salle led 16-14 on David Bell's follow at the 8:41 mark of the first half before the Rams' defense took over. Mello's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave Rhode Island the lead for good. After Scott Hazelton and Jamaal Wise each hit two free throws, Mello hit another 3-pointer from almost the same spot to make it 24-18.

The Explorers went just over 5 minutes without scoring a point yet were outscored only 7-0 and trailed just 26-21 at the half.

They made one of their first 11 shots from the field in the second half to fall behind 37-23 and never got closer than seven points again.