March 12, 2009

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Senior guard Jimmy Baron tied a career high with eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points, but it was not enough as the second-seeded Rhode Island men's basketball team dropped a 78-74 decision to seventh-seeded Duquesne in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship at Boardwalk Hall.

Thursday night's game featured 13 ties and seven lead changes with no team leading by more than seven points.

"We knew this was going to be a hard fought battle," said Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron. "I thought we did a much better job defending them two weeks ago when we beat them in Pittsburgh."

Baron's 26-point output marked the 20th time he has scored 20 points or more in his career. Senior Kahiem Seawright, junior Keith Cothran and sophomore Will Martell joined Baron in double-figures, scoring 13, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

Seawright and junior Lamonte Ulmer each pulled down 12 rebounds apiece. Ulmer's 12 boards are a career-high.

As a team, URI outrebounded the Dukes, 43-26, but were outshot 52.8-42.9 percent from the field. Rhody's loss to Duquesne snapped URI's five-game winning streak against the Dukes. The last time URI had beaten Duquesne was back on Jan. 24, 2004.

"You've got to give them credit because they made some big shots," Baron said. "They shared the ball well and made some really big plays. I'm proud of our guys though. I thought they played with tremendous resiliency. It's definitely disappointing because we came here to win it. We just didn't get it done."

Martell and Baron opened the game by scoring 12 of Rhody's first 14 points. Baron finished the half with 12 points, going 4-of-7 from the field. All four of Baron's field goals came from beyond the arc.

No team led by more than six points in the first half and both teams shot 50-percent from the field. The Rams did hold a 17-15 rebounding advantage in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Duquesne outscored Rhody 7-2 in the first minute to take its largest lead of the game (seven points). URI fought back to tie the game at 44-44 with 16:48 on the clock.

Both teams traded baskets for the next seven minutes and - with just under 10 minutes remaining - the score stood at 57 apiece. Three minutes later, the Dukes took a six-point lead, but URI responded to tie the game at 67.

In the final five minutes, Duquesne outscored URI, 9-7, to secure the win.