What It Means:
Rhode Island snaps a six-game overall losing streak - and six game road slide in Atlantic 10 play - with an 87-78 victory at St. Bonaventure.

The Rams used a 54-point second half - the highest scoring 20:00 period of the season - outscoring the Bonnies by 19 points in the second frame.

There were three lead changes and two ties in the first 10 minutes of play, before the Bonnies took the lead for good for the rest of the half, outscoring Rhody 22-11 over the final 10 minutes of action.

After trading baskets to start the second half, the Rams began to chip away at the Bona lead.  A fast break layup by Xavier Munford kick started a 17-6 run over the next 7:11, ending with a Munford 3-ball and a St. Bonaventure time out.

The Bonnies responded, going back up by four (61-57) with 6:44 left.  With the game tied at 68-68 with 3:13 to go, Rhody closed it out with a 19-10 push, connecting on 14-of-15 free throws down the stretch.

Inside the Box Score and Beyond:
* Xavier Munford poured in a game and season-high 32 points.  The senior guard made 10-of-19 shots, including 3-of-6 from the perimeter.  X also connected on all nine of his FT attempts and tallied three rebounds and two steals.  Twenty-one of Munford's 32 points came in the second half.

* E.C. Matthews added 24 points (8-16 FG; 2-5 3FG; 6-7 FT).  It was his eighth 20+ scoring game since January.  The leading candidate for A-10 Rookie of the Year had 13 of his 24 in the second half.  He added four rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot in 38 minutes.

* Gilvydas Biruta was the third Ram in double figures, with 11 points.  The Lithuanian was sidelined much of the first half with foul trouble, but came alive down the stretch when Rhody needed him most.  He was 3-of-6 from the floor, 5-of-5 from the foul line, and recorded six rebounds and two assists in just 20 minutes.

* Hassan Martin set a new Rhode Island freshman blocks standard on the afternoon.  Credited with two blocked shots, Martin passed Kenny Green (63- 1986-87) and now has 64 swats this year.  The Staten Island product fouled out with nine points (4-5 FG) and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

* The bench provided a huge lift for the Rams in the victory.  Ifeanyi Onyekaba scored five points and had a game-high eight rebounds.  Head coach Dan Hurley called it "his best game of the season; even better than Maine."

* T.J. Buchanan added three points, five boards, and three assists.  He guarded SBU's leading scorer Matthew Wright much of the night and held him to 5-of-14 shooting from the field.

* Jarelle Reischel had three points and two rebounds in 18 minutes.  His baseline drive and dunk attempt was a tone-setter during the Rhody run.

* Biggie Minnis saw three minutes of action in the first half - his first appearance in eight games since suffering a hip pointer.  Matthew Butler dished out an assist in two minutes.

* Rhody connected on 57.1% (16-28) of its shots in the second half and 50.0% overall (28-56) on the game.  The Rams were 26-for-33 from the charity stripe.

* The Rams dominated the backboard, 40-26, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.  URI had 16 second-chance points.

Stat of the Day:
32 - Xavier Munford's 32 points tied the single-game high for Rhode Island.  E.C. Matthews also tallied 32 points vs. Duquesne on Feb. 15

Quotable:
"You want to keep getting better throughout the season.  A win like this - on the road against a very well-coached team, maybe the hottest team in the league right now - is very encouraging as we approach the final three games of the year and the Barclays Center."
-- head coach Dan Hurley

What's Next:
Rhode Island finishes its regular season road slate with a game at Massachusetts on Wednesday, Feb. 26.  The Rams dropped a 73-68 decision at home to the Minutemen earlier this season on Feb. 9 at the Thomas M. Ryan Center.

The game can be seen live on OSN, with Eric Frede and Abu Bakr providing the call.

This - and every Rhody game - can be heard live on the radio, on iHeart.com or via the iHeartRadio app for your smartphone. Tune into B101 (101.5 FM) to hear Steve McDonald and Don Kaull provide the call.  The pre-game show begins at 6:30 p.m.