March 22, 2010

Box Score

KINGSTON, R.I. - Junior Delroy James scored a career-high 34 points to propel the Rhode Island men's basketball team (25-9) to an 85-83 victory over Nevada in the Second Round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Monday night at the Ryan Center.

Rhody's win at the Ryan Center was its 15th at home this year and its 22nd-consecutive victory over a non-conference opponent.

James finished the game by going 10-of-19 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. James became the first URI player since Jimmy Baron (Nov. 9, 2007 - Florida Atlantic) to score 30-or-more points in a game.

Senior Keith Cothran and junior Will Martell also chipped in with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Cothran also tallied one steal to become the Rams all-time leader in career steals (206), passing Tyson Wheeler (205). Senior Lamonte Ulmer pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

Nevada outshot Rhody 43.1-38.0 percent and held a 52-35 advantage on the glass, but the Rams had just two turnovers compared to the Wolf Pack's 16.

Both teams traded points in the opening six minutes and half minutes as no team led by more than four points. Freshman Akeem Richmond gave the Rams their largest lead of the first half when he hit a 3-pointer to give URI a 22-16 advantage with 10:11 until halftime.

Five minutes later, Rhody increased its lead to 10 points (36-26) thanks to a 3-pointer by junior Ben Eaves. The Wolf Pack responded by going on an 11-1 run over the next four and half minutes to tie the game at 37 apiece with 54 seconds to play in the first half.

In final 54 seconds, Rhody went on a 5-0 run to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room. Rhody had just one turnover in the opening 20 minutes and outshot the Wolf Pack from 3-point range 41.2-25.0 percent.

The Rams opened up an eight-point lead with 16:45 to play, but the Wolf Pack responded as they cut the lead to three (53-50) with 14:28 remaining. Rhody would then go on an 11-0 run to open up 14-point lead with 10:42. James scored six points during the stretch.

Nevada would not go away as it cut the Rams lead to six with 6:22 to go, but Rhody quickly responded and opened up a 10-point lead (74-64) with 4:45 remaining. The Wolf Pack fought back once again to trim URI's lead to four (74-70) with 2:15 to play.

The Wolf Pack outscored Rhody in the final stretch, but it was not enough as URI held on for the win.

Rhody returns to action on Wednesday in the Third Round of the NIT and will travel to Virginia Tech to take on the Hokies beginning at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. The winner of that game will advance to the NIT semifinals on March 30 at Madison Square Garden.