Jan. 9, 2011

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KINGSTON, R.I.- The Rhode Island men's basketball team (9-6; 0-1 Atlantic 10) fell 72-45 to Xavier on Sunday evening at the Ryan Center. Rhody's loss at home was its first the season.

Senior Delroy James and sophomore Nikola Malesevic combined for 25 points. James led all URI scorers, finishing with 13 points.

Xavier jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, but the Rams would respond with an 8-0 run to take a 12-11 lead with 12:26 to go in the first half. Malesevic scored five points during the stretch.

The Musketeers fought right back with a 12-0 spurt to take a 23-12 advantage, holding the Rams scoreless for nearly six minutes. However, Rhody came right back and cut the XU lead to seven at (23-16). Xavier went on to close out the half on 8-0 run to take a 31-19 lead into the locker room.

Rhody cut Xavier's lead to 12 with 17:14 to go in the game, but that was as close as the Rams would get for the remainder of the game. Xavier went on to extend its lead to 18 points with eight minutes remaining in the game.

The Musketeers would go to lead by as many as 27 points to secure the win.

The Rams return to action on Thursday as they head to Richmond. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.