Jan. 6, 2009

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Four Rams scored in double-figures, led by 16 points apiece from seniors Kahiem Seawright and Jimmy Baron, as Rhode Island held on for an 86-77 win at Toledo.

Seawright narrowly missed a double-double, also grabbing a season-high nine rebounds. He added an assist and two steals in 37 minutes of action. Baron knocked down four 3-pointers, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists (no turnovers).

The victory - Rhody's third in a row - closed out the team's 2008-09 non-conference slate with an 11-4 mark. URI also improved to 4-2 in true road games and 5-4 in games played away from the Ryan Center.

The Rams came out of the gate with the long-range shot falling, as Baron connected on his first three shots from the perimeter. The senior guard's third trey came from beyond 30 feet. Keith Cothran added another trifecta just 2:18 into the contest, making it 12-7.

The Rockets (2-12) made an 8-2 push over the next 2:00 of play, taking their only lead of the game at 15-14, with 15:43 remaining in the first half.

Rhody outscored UT, 20-8, over the next 5:14, paced by another Baron 3-pointer and balanced scoring throughout the lineup, to go up 32-21 with 10:29 to play. Toledo kept attacking the bucket, cutting the lead to just one point (41-40) , but URI would take a 45-40 lead at the break. The Rams committed just one first half turnover.

URI began the second half on a 9-2 run, with Cothran and Will Martell combining on an inside-outside combination to go up 54-42 with 18:00 left in regulation. The Rockets would trim the lead back to six points (56-50, 15:46) but another 9-2 scoring surge would push the Rhody lead back to 13 points - at 65-52 with just under 14 minutes to play.

It was a double-digit lead for much of the rest of the game, before Toledo got as close as seven points (84-77) with 28 seconds to go. Cothran and Marquis Jones combined to knock down six free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Cothran added 15 points - 12 in the second half - to go along with four assists and two steals. Martell was 6-of-9 from the floor, good for 12 points and six boards. Lamonte Ulmer added nine rebounds off the bench and Delroy James contributed nine points and four rebounds in 10 foul-plagued minutes.

As a team, URI dished out 18 assists to just five turnovers, while tallying eight steals. The Rams shot 47.1% (32-68) from the floor - including 8-of-19 from the outside.

Rhody opens up Atlantic 10 play on Saturday, Jan. 9 in Philadelphia as it takes on Saint Joseph's at the Palestra at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live locally on Cox Sports Television (ch. 3), with Tom McCarthy and John Griffin providing the call.

As always, Steve McDonald and Don Kaull will provide the call on the Rams Radio Network (WHJJ 920 AM; WJZS 99.3 FM), with the Cox Communications pre-game show beginning at 1:30 p.m.