Jan. 27, 2007

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Jan. 27, 2007

KINGSTON, R.I. -- Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron each tallied 17 points as Rhode Island had its four-game win streak snapped this afternoon, losing 82-78 at home to George Washington.

Daniels was 5-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the line, in 25 minutes of action. Baron was 6-of-11, including 5-of-10 from three-point land.

George Washington led 12-6 early in the game before a steal and dunk by Keith Cothran cut the Colonials lead to two, at 16-14 (11:44). GW would extend its lead to eight points - at 27-19 with 7:51 to go - before the Rams offense started to heat up.

A three-pointer from Baron with 6:03 left in the half made it a one-point ballgame, at 27-26. The trey was URI's first, as it missed its previous 10 attempts from the perimeter. Parfait Bitee's trifecta with 3:20 left tied the game at 33-33, before another Baron triple with 2:07 remaining gave the Rams their first lead of the contest, at 36-35. Rhode Island would take a 40-37 lead into the break, after a Kahiem Seawright tip-in as time was winding down.

GW began the second on a 6-2 run, taking back the lead at 43-42, with 16:52 left in regulation. Both squads traded baskets for the next 4:48 before the Rams went on an 8-0 run, taking their largest lead of the game - nine points, 63-54, with 10:20 left.

The Colonials would mount a 16-4 run of their own, thanks to some hot outside shooting, taking the lead for good, at 70-68 with 3:02 to play. URI got within one, after a deep Baron three with 18 seconds left, but that was close as the team would get.

"We just didn't execute this afternoon. We could have played better defense and hit more shots." said Daniels. "In some of our other games, we were able to do that. It's frustrating and I place some of the blame on myself, but we have a week to look at the negatives from today and work hard in the gym to get better."

Seawright had 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Bitee tallied 13 points and three assists. Keith Cothran added seven points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench, while Lamonte Ulmer chipped in with six points.

"(Maureece) Rice and (Carl) Elliott were very tough today, they hit some big-time shots for George Washington." said head coach Jim Baron. "They got us into foul trouble and when they went to the free throw line, they knocked them down. Bottom line today - they made shots and we didn't."

For the game, the Rams shot 50.9% (27-53), including just 8-of-25 from the perimeter (32.0%) and 16-of-23 from the charity stripe (69.6%). They were narrowly outrebounded by GW, 29-28, and committed 14 turnovers.

The Rams have a week off before returning to action in the Bronx, as they travel to Fordham. The game is set for 1 p.m. and will be televised locally on Cox Sports Television (ch. 3).

"We played without our starting center Darrell Harris, and with his injury, this break couldn't come at a better time." Baron said. "It's a period of time for us to rest, get our legs back under us, and get back in the gym and get better."

Notes: The game marked the first time all season that the Rams shot 50.0% or better from the floor and lost...It also dropped URI's record to 10-3 when leading at the half...Rhody's bench outscored GW's, 18-7...There were six ties and 10 lead changes in the game, which pitted the top two teams in the Atlantic 10...Rhody has dropped five straight contests to the Colonials and seven of the last nine...While the Rams shot just 32.0% from the perimeter in the ballgame (8-25), they were 19-for-28 from inside the arc, good for 67.8%...It was Jimmy Baron's fifth game with five or more treys. He was 5-for-10 from the outside today...It was also the second consecutive game in which more than 7,000 fans were in attendance at the Ryan Center. This afternoon's attendance was 7,011. "The crowd was great again - they gave us a lot of support." said Will Daniels...