Feb. 6, 2010

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - Five Rhody players scored in double figures as the Rhode Island men's basketball team (19-3; 7-2 Atlantic 10) defeated Massachusetts 93-85 Saturday afternoon at the Ryan Center.

Freshman Akeem Richmond scored a team-high 19 points, connecting on 6-of-10 field goals from beyond the arc. Richmond's six 3-pointers passed Cuttino Mobley for most the 3-pointers in a season by a freshman (fifth all-time) and were the most in a single-game since former URI player Dustin Hellenga hit seven versus Yale (12/11/01).

Senior Lamonte Ulmer, junior Delroy James, junior Will Martell and senior Keith Cothran also scored in double-figures, finishing with 17, 13, 13 and 10 points, respectively. Ulmer also pulled down 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double on the year.

URI outscored UMass 16-4 in fast break points and held 39-19 advantage in bench scoring.

Rhody struggled from beyond the arc to open the game after it posted its best 3-point shooting games of the season last time out at La Salle. Cothran hit Rhody's first 3-pointer to give Rhody a 26-18 lead with 7:25 to go in the opening half.

URI closed out the first half by holding UMass to just five points in the final four minutes as Rhody opened up a 17-point lead going into the locker room (46-29). Rhody lead by as many as 19 points in the first half.

UMass came out firing to begin the second half as it went on a 12-2 run to cut the Rhody lead to seven (48-41). URI responded with a run of its own as it went on to score the next 10 points to take a 56-41 lead with under 14 minutes remaining in the game.

Rhody lead by double-digits for the next 12 minutes and led by as many as 24 points with 9:55 to go in the game.

The Rams held a 17-point lead with 3:00 minutes to go and appeared to have the game well in hand, but the Minutemen would not quit as they cut the URI lead to nine points with 2:00 minutes to go.

In the final two minutes, Rhody held off the UMass rally to come away with the win.

The Rams return to action on Wednesday as they play host Richmond in the Fourth Annual "Pink Out". Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game can be seen live locally on Cox Sports Television, with Eric Frede and Abu Bakr providing the call. The game can also be heard live on the Beltone New England Rams Radio Network on B101 (101.5 FM), with the Cox pre-game show beginning at 6:30 p.m.