Jan. 30, 2010

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Keith Cothran scored a team-high 14 points as Rhode Island posted a 72-66 victory over George Washington on Saturday afternoon at the Ryan Center.

Freshman Akeem Richmond and senior Lamonte Ulmer also scored in double figures for Rhody, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Defensively, senior Delroy James led the Rams with a game-high nine rebounds and three blocks - including a rejection on Tony Taylor's shot with nine seconds left in the game.

The win improves URI's record to 17-3 (5-2 Atlantic 10) while George Washington drops to 12-8 overall and 2-5 in league play.

Rhode Island jumped out to a 13-6 lead over the first five minutes of play, despite connecting on just two of its first nine attempts from the field. A 6-3 push by George Washington got the Colonials to within four (16-12) with 13:29 on the clock, but Rhody responded with 11 unanswered points over the next four minutes to go on top 27-12 with 9:39 remaining in the half.

Sophomore Orion Outerbridge started the run with a pair of layups before freshman Akeem Richmond hit a three-pointer and Ben Eaves made back-to-back buckets within nine seconds to cap an 11-0 spurt.

Rhode Island went on to take is largest lead of the game after a jumper by Cothran made it a 32-16 game with just over six minutes remaining in the half.

GW used a late push to rally back and cut its deficit to nine (35-26) with :20 left on the clock but a buzzer-beating layup by freshman Ryan Brooks put the Rams back on top by double digits at the break (37-26).

In the second half, the Colonials came out of the locker room firing as they trimmed URI's lead down to six points with 15:34 to go in the game. Rhody responded and increased its lead back to nine points with 13:03 to go in the game.

The Colonials kept the game close throughout the second half as they trailed by no more than eight points in the final 10 minutes and got the URI lead down to as low as three points, but URI always had answer for every George Washington run.

In the final 1:30, URI held a 65-61 lead and went on to seal the win thanks to some clutch free throw shooting by Ulmer, who the Rams up eight points with 24 seconds remaining.

Rhody returns to action Tuesday as it travels to La Salle. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.