Rhode Island Starters
Jeremy Sheppard, Ishmael Leggett, Makhi Mitchell, Makhel Mitchell, Ishmael El-Amin
 
Dayton Starters
Toumani Camara, Malachi Smith, Daron Holmes II, R.J. Blakney, Kobe Elvis
 
How it Happened 
A second-half rally came up just short for Rhode Island in a 53-51 loss at Dayton Friday night.

Rhode Island (12-7, 3-4 Atlantic 10) found itself down 10 points early in the second half after the Flyers opened the second period with an 8-2 run. URI used a dominant defensive effort to keep itself in the game, slowly chipping away throughout the half.

After Kobe Elvis hit his third 3-pointer of the second half for the Flyers (14-7, 6-2 A-10) with 13:14 to go, Rhode Island found itself down by nine, 45-36. A fastbreak layup for Makhi Mitchell from Sebastian Thomas followed by an Antwan Walker jumper got the Rams back within five at 45-40 with 11:27 to go.

From there, neither team scored again for more than five minutes of game time. Despite forcing Dayton to miss 10 consecutive shots, Rhody missed four shots of its own and committed four turnovers over the course of seven possessions. A jumper from Jeremy Sheppard ended the drought and made it a one-possession game, 45-42. However, Dayton responded with four unanswered points to push the lead back to seven.

Jalen Carey kept URI alive with a corner 3-pointer with 2:06 to go, and Thomas hit a drive with 14 seconds remaining to get the Rams within two points at 49-47. Despite the game effort, Dayton was 4-for-4 at the free throw line – two each by Malachi Smith and Moustapha Amzil – to secure the victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island dropped its third straight Atlantic 10 contest, two of which have been by two points.
• Forward Makhi Mitchell posted his fourth double-double of the year for the Rams, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Center Makhel Mitchell added nine points and three rebounds.
• Guard Jalen Carey was strong off the bench, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds.
• Guard Sebastian Thomas had four points, four assists and one steal.
• Guard Malik Martin and forward Antwan Walker each had four points as URI's bench outscored Dayton's, 19-8.
• Martin added five rebounds and three blocks shots
• Dayton freshman DaRon Holmes II had 12 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots. The A-10 leader in field goal percentage showed why, hitting 5-of-6 from the field.
• Fellow forward Toumani Camara led all scorers with 18 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists.
• Rhode Island limited Dayton to 30.9 percent from the floor and 27.3 percent from 3-point range.
• However, the Flyers scored 11 second chance points on 11 offensive rebounds.

Up Next
Rhode Island is back in action on Wednesday night at Fordham. Tipoff on ESPN+ is 7 p.m.