Jan. 13, 2010

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - The Rhode Island men's basketball team cracked 100 points for the first time ever at the Ryan Center as it picked up a 101-74 victory over Saint Joseph's Wednesday night to earn its first league win.

Rhody's 101-points also marked the first time URI has surpassed the 100 point plateau since it scored 111 points at Duquesne on Feb. 11, 2007. With the win, Rhody improved to 13-2 on the year and 1-1 in Atlantic 10 play. This season the Rams are 7-1 at home.

The win also handed head coach Jim Baron his 350th career win.

Junior Delroy James totaled a career-high 24 points to lead the way for the Rams. Freshman Akeem Richmond also turned in a career-high performance as he netted 21 points, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including five from beyond the arc.

Rhody connected on 53.6 percent from the floor and also outrebounded the Hawks 41-35.

The Rams never trailed as they raced out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to forcing turnovers on the first four SJU possessions. URI forced the Hawks into 19 turnovers. Saint Joseph's entered the game averaging just 13.7 turnovers per game.

James and junior guard Marquis Jones each connected from beyond the arc to give the Rams a 13-2 lead at the 15:56 mark.

Saint Joseph's responded with a 6-2 push over the next 1:20, making it 15-8 with 14:49 to go in the first half, but that was as close as the Hawks would get for the remainder of the game.

Five minutes later, Rhody would go on to increase its lead to 15 points, leading 32-17. URI led by as many as 31 points in the first half and took a 58-34 lead into the locker room.

Richmond scored 18 points in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc.

In the second half, Rhody outscored Saint Joseph's 43-40 and URI led by 24 points-or-more for the final 20 minutes.

URI returns to action on Saturday as it heads to Fordham. The game is set to tipoff at 2 p.m.