Nov. 16, 2008

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DURHAM, N.C. - Senior guard Jimmy Baron connected on seven 3-pointers in the second half en route to a game-high 24 points, but it was not enough as the Rhode Island men's basketball team fell 82-79 to No. 8/5 Duke.

URI, which lead for most of the game, was on the brink of becoming just the fifth non-ranked team to defeat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but DU outscored Rhody 5-2 in the final minute to secure the win.

Baron (East Greenwich, R.I.) finished the game 8-of-16 from the floor. All eight of Baron's field goals came from the beyond the arc. The URI senior scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half.

Juniors Delroy James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Keith Cothran (New Haven, Conn.) also scored in double figures, finishing with 21 and 10 points, respectively. James led URI with a game-high eight rebounds.

Despite the loss, Rhody outshot the Blue Devils from the floor (59.3-58.6 percent) and from beyond the arc (71.4-23.5). URI also held a 31-29 advantage on the glass.

URI held its largest lead of the game with 3:33 to go in the first half, leading 34-22, but DU responded with an 11-0 run to close out the half.

Duke's Kyle Singler opened the second half with a layup to give the Blue Devils 35-34 lead, which was their first lead since it led 10-8 in the first half.

URI would reclaim the lead on its next offensive possession and would not trail again until the game's final minute.

In the final minute, Singler twice hit a pair of foul shots in the final minute to put the Blue Devils up by one, before Rhode Island called timeout with 10.6 seconds left and worked the ball to Baron. With Singler in his face, Baron's fallaway jumper glanced off the rim and went out of bounds with 4.9 seconds on the clock.

Duke's Jon Scheyer then hit a pair of free throws to secure the win.

Rhody returns to action on Thursday as it heads to West Long Branch, N.J. to take on Monmouth as part of the Philly Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.