Rhode Island Starters
Jeremy Sheppard, Ishmael Leggett, Makhi Mitchell, Makhel Mitchell, Ishmael El-Amin
 
American International Starters
Miller, Covington, Batista, Vidal, Golding

How it Happened 
Rhode Island ended a 20-day layoff and defeated American International 70-55 Sunday afternoon. The Rams (9-3) have won three straight contests as they head into Atlantic 10 play.

URI never trailed in the contest. Makhi Mitchell had 11 first half points, Ishmael Leggett added six and Ishmael El-Amin had five to help the Rams build a 35-22 advantage by the break.

While AIC (5-7) stuck around all game, the lead never left double digits. Rhode Island pulled ahead by as many as 20 points following an Ileri Ayo-Faleye dunk with 13:38 to go. The visiting Yellowjackets managed to trim the deficit to 13 on a Jordan Vidal layup, but the Rams coasted from there in what is the final scheduled non-conference game of the regular season.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island head coach David Cox coached the 100th game of his career at Rhode Island and improved to 58-42. Only Naismith Hall of Famer Frank Keaney (60-40) won more games in his first 100 with the Rams.
• All 10 players who saw the court for URI scored and played at least 11 minutes.
• Forward Makhi Mitchell had a game-high 19 points to go with eight rebounds.
• Guard Malik Martin just missed a double-double, scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking two shots.
• Guard Ishmael El-Amin scored 14 points on the strength of 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
• Guards Tres Berry and Jalen Carey both scored seven points off the bench. The seven points for Berry were a career high.
• Guard Sebastian Thomas had five assists, four rebounds, two points and one steal.
• Rhode Island had a 48-38 edge in rebounding, and an 18-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Up Next
The Rams hit the road for back-to-back Atlantic 10 contests. Rhody visits George Mason on Wednesday, Jan. 5 and then goes to Davidson for a game on Saturday, Jan. 8.