Dec. 5, 2006
Box Score
KINGSTON, R.I. -- Jimmy Baron poured in a career-high 28 points and Will Daniels added 19 as Rhode Island pulled away from a scrappy Brown squad, 72-68, at the Ryan Center tonight.
Baron was 8-for-10 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the perimeter. He also connected on all four of his attempts from the charity stripe. The sophomore guard had his teammates and coaches support, helping to lead to his career scoring night.
"After Saturday's game against Providence, my teammates talked to me about being more aggressive and looking for my shot." Baron said. "I credit my teammates for having that confidence in me and finding me for the open shot."
Head coach Jim Baron agreed. "I told Jimmy, 'there's no way you can do what you did' against Providence." the head coach explained. "He needed to shoot the ball and attack the basket, be aggressive."
Both teams got on the scoreboard early, by way of the trey. Baron connected twice and Daniels once, while Brown's Scott Friske and Mark McAndrew also hit threes to make it 9-8 with just under 16:00 to play in the half.
A Darrell Harris three helped contribute to a Rams' 9-0 run, capped by a Daniels jumper with 11:16 to go, making it 18-8. Rhody's offense would continue to click, after a Joe Mbang trifecta gave URI an 11-point advantage - at 27-16 - with 5:46 to play in the first half. The Bears closed the half on an 11-6 push, capped by a Damon Huffman three as the horn sounded, making it, 35-29, Rhody at the break.
"I was feeling it a little in the first half, but at halftime, I just cleared my head and went back out there and tried to stay aggressive." Jimmy Baron said. "We had good team ball movement and the team did a good job of finding the open man."
Rhode Island began the half on an 8-0 run, taking 43-29 lead with 16:37 to go in regulation. Brown countered with an 13-2 run over the next 5:23, cutting the Ram lead to just three points (45-42). Back-to-back three's by Baron and Daniels, plus a tough drive by Lamonte Ulmer helped put URI back up by eight, at 53-45 (9:34). Baron connected on his seventh three-ball of the night with 7:14 left, giving Rhody a 61-50 advantage.
But Brown again battled back, this time with nine unanswered points, capped by a McAndrew layup which trimmed the Bears' deficit to just two points (61-59) with 4:32 left. Rhody answered with a 9-1 push, on a Daniels drive (70-60, 1:24). But the Bears would not go away quietly. Two more deep threes from McAndrew and Huffman kept it close, but Daniels connected on 1-of-2 from the line, sealing the Rhody victory.
Daniels was 5-of-8 from the floor, while also grabbing eight boards and dishing out five assists. Parfait Bitee had nine rebounds and four assists. Kahiem Seawright had nine points and seven rebounds.
URI shot 53.7% from the floor (22-41), including 12-of-18 from the perimeter (66.7%). They were 16-of-23 from the line (69.6%) and outrebounded the Bears, 35-23. Brown connected on 14-of-32 from the perimeter, paced by Damon Huffman's 30-point effort. The reserve guard was 8-of-11 from the outside.
"It was a great team effort. Brown is a very good team, they have a lot of options and play very efficient with their passing and backdoor cuts." Baron explained. "We rebounded the ball well, an improvement from our game against Providence. Parfait (Bitee) played tremendous out there without Jon Lucky. Will Daniels made two big plays, with a blocked shot and a charge. Darrell (Harris) and Kahiem (Seawright) also gave us big minutes."
The Rams return to action on Saturday at the Ryan Center when they host Utah at 2 p.m.
Notes: Junior guard Jon Lucky dressed, but did not play tonight. Lucky is suffering from some general ankle soreness...Baron started in his place - the sophomore's first start of the season...Will Daniels has connected on 10 of his last 16 treys, good for 62.5%...Rhody connected on 7 of its first 11 shots from the floor - including 4-of-5 from the perimeter...URI shot 57.9% from the floor (11-19) - it was the third-best single-half shooting percentage this season. The Rams connected on 60.9% (14-23) in the first half against Iona on Nov. 28 and 58.3% (21-36) in the second half versus Stonehill on Nov. 10...Parfait Bitee pulled down a career-high nine rebounds...Baron's eight 3FG ranks as the second-highest single-game total in URI history. Tyson Wheeler had nine trifectas vs. Saint Joseph's on Jan. 6, 1998. Wheeler (vs. Temple, Feb. 13, 1996), Cuttino Mobley (vs. Temple, Jan. 4, 1998) and Preston Murphy (vs. Temple, Jan. 16, 1999) are the others who had eight in a game.
