March 17, 2010

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Lamonte Ulmer scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting to lead the Rhode Island men's basketball team (24-9) to a 76-64 win over Northwestern in the First Round of the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night at the Ryan Center.

Ulmer was one of four URI players, who scored in double figures as freshman Akeem Richmond, junior Will Martell and junior Delroy James chipped in with 16, 14 and 12 points, respectively.

As a team, Rhody outshot Northwestern 47.7-39.3 percent and held a 25-2 advantage in bench scoring.

Rhody jumped out to an early 16-8 lead at the 12:51 mark of the first half. Senior Lamonte Ulmer had seven points during that stretch as he went 2-of-3 from the field and was 2-of-2 from the free throw line.

Northwestern fought back as it went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-20 lead with 5:51 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. During that period, Rhody was held to just four points in seven minutes.

Freshman Akeem Richmond's put a stop to the Wildcats' run as he hit a 3-pointer at the 4:46 mark to give Rhody a 23-22 advantage. Richmond went on to score the Rams next 11 points to give URI a 34-28 lead with 1:39 to go in the half. During a span of 3:07, Richmond scored 14 points for Rhody.

The Rams went into the locker room with a 37-30 lead. URI outshot Northwestern 46.2-40.0 and held a 20-2 advantage in bench scoring.

In the second half, Northwestern climbed back to within three points (40-37) with 14:43 remaining in the game. The Rams quickly pushed its lead to eight points as it went on a 7-2 run over the next three and half minutes to take a 47-39 lead with 11:26 remaining.

The Rams maintained a two-possession lead for the next four and a half minutes and led by six with 5:59 to go in the game. In the final five minutes, URI pulled away as it outscored the Huskies 18-12 to secure the win.

Rhody will advance to the second round of the NIT and will face the winner of the Wichita State-Nevada matchup.