Rhode Island Starters
Montgomery, Kortright, House, Estevez, Fuchs

Saint Joseph's Starters 
Reynolds II, Brown, Greer III, Fleming, Finkley

How it Happened
Luis Kortright split two defenders and hit a driving layup with one second on the clock to break a tie and lift Rhode Island to a 78-74 victory over Saint Joseph's Wednesday night.

Rhode Island (7-7, 1-0 Atlantic 10) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half to win the conference opener for both teams. After Kortright's drive, the visiting Hawks (10-4, 0-1 A-10) attempted a full-court pass, but the ball sailed out of bounds. Rhody's Zek Montgomery was fouled before URI could inbound the ball. He sank both shots to ice URI's second win in a row.

With 15:22 remaining, Saint Joseph's extended to a 13-point lead on a 3-pointer by Lynn Greer III. The Hawks maintained a double-digit lead until under the 10-minute mark when a Rasheer Fleming dunk made the score 60-50.

From there, Rhode Island went on an 18-5 run that was capped by an old-fashioned three-point play by David Fuchs. That gave the Rams their biggest lead of the night to that point at 68-65. Saint Joseph's eventually tied it at 70-70 on a Xzayvier Brown 3-pointer with 2:40 to go, but URI never trailed in the final minutes.

Rhody took leads on a drive from Jaden House with 2:18 to go and again on a David Green layup with 28 seconds left, but the Hawks tied the game after each URI basket by making free throws. Erik Reynolds hit 2-of-2 with 27 seconds left, setting up Rhode Island's final possession and the heroics from Kortright.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island managed to change its luck at the free throw line. After shooting 9-of-18 in the first half, the Rams were 13-of-17 in the second half.
• The Rams had 18 assists and just 10 turnovers.
• Forward David Green recorded his first career double-double, getting 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 32 minutes off the bench.
• Guard Luis Kortright had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists with just one turnover.
• Guard Jaden House had 15 points and three boards.
• Forward David Fuchs recorded his second straight double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
• Guard Brandon Weston provided a significant spark off the bench. He had four points, four assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block in 12 minutes.
• He also forced two more Saint Joseph's turnovers down the stretch that did not go as steals.
• Saint Joseph's came into the game averaging 11.4 made 3-point baskets per game, but URI limited the Hawks to 8-for-30 from deep.
• Rhode Island used its fifth different starting lineup of the season.

What's Next
Rhode Island is off until Tuesday, Jan. 9 when it plays at Davidson. Game time is 7 p.m. on ESPN+.