Rhode Island Starters
Tripp, Corey, Johnson, Cochran, Itejere
Dayton Starters
Bennett, Montgomery, Jones, Heard, L'Etang
How it Happened
Rhode Island rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Dayton 81-76 in overtime to win its third straight Atlantic 10 game Tuesday.
The Rams (13-8, 4-4 A-10) trailed 28-13 with just under seven minutes to go in the first half. However, a dogged defensive effort and big plays up and down the lineup spurred the team to victory.
Rhody opened scoring in overtime with a highlight reel play as
RJ Johnson hit
Keeyan Itejere with an alley-oop dunk. After an empty possession for Dayton (14-7, 5-3 A-10),
Jahmere Tripp scored on a put back of his own miss, putting URI ahead 68-64. After a pair of Flyer free throws, Tripp got another offensive board and found
Tyler Cochran for a layup and 70-66 lead. A Tripp 3-pointer extended the lead to five points (73-68).
Dayton responded with a 3-pointer of its own, but Rhody kept scoring.
Keeyan Itejere followed a Rhody miss with a thunderous putback dunk. After an empty Flyer possession, RJ Johnnson hit two free throws to make the score 77-71.
Again, Dayton came up with a 3-pointer from Jaiun Simon to cut the lead in half with 16 seconds to go.
RJ Johnson was automatic at the line, hitting 4-of-4 on free throws in the final 13 seconds to put the game on ice.
Inside the Box Score
- For the second straight game, Jahmere Tripp and Tyler Cochran had 20-point games.
- Tripp had a career-high 24 points with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
- Tyler Cochran delivered 21 points, six rebounds and five steals.
- RJ Johnson was the third Ram in double digits, scoring 14 points with three assists and two rebounds.
- Johnson was 6-for-6 at the line and has made all 29 of his attempts this season.
- Alex Crawford gave the team six points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
- The defense forced 23 Dayton turnovers, which led to 22 points off turnovers.
- Rhode Island scored 28 points at the free throw line, the team's third straight game with 20 or more at the stripe. The Rams are 4-1 when the making at least 20 free throws.
- Jonah Hinton missed his first game of the season due to a leg injury suffered against George Mason on Saturday. Hinton tried to give it a go in pregame, but he was not able to play.
- After being outrebounded 20-12 in the first half, Rhode Island had a 17-10 edge after the break
Up Next
Rhode Island is back on the road for a game at Duquesne on Sunday, Feb. 1. The game will air nationally on USA Network at 12 p.m. The audio call will be available on the Varsity Network.