Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Fans |
|
A10 Fans Home |
Minutemen Pick Up Win at URI Gurley leads UMass with 16 points
Four Massachusetts players reached double figures with Anthony Gurley's 16 leading the way as the Minutemen defeated Rhode Island 66-60 at the Ryan Center in Kingston. Delroy James scored 15 points to lead four Rams in double figures but it wasn't enough as the Minutemen (14-11, 6-6) went from down 10 early in the second half to up 11, holding on to pick up their third conference road victory of the season while also ending their four-game losing streak. The loss drops URI (16-10, 7-5) into a tie for fifth place in the Atlantic 10 standings with George Washington while ending their longest win streak of nearly a month (two games). UMass outscored their rivals by 11 points in two areas: points in the paint (33-22) and fast break points (11-0), making up for 16 turnovers and allowing 18 offensive rebounds. Neither team led by more than eight at any point in the first half, with the Minutemen striking first on a Javorn Farrell layup just four seconds into the game. A pair of Marquis Jones free throws just seven seconds later drew the Rams even, and they took their first lead of the game on a Nikola Malesevic jumper at the 19:01 mark. The game would remain close until the Rams scored seven straight points over a three minute stretch to take a 27-19 lead with 1:44 left in the first half.
Each team would score four points, resulting in a 31-23 URI lead at the break. Second chance points were the difference as URI outscored UMass 12-2 in that category. A Malesevic offensive rebound and basket just 22 seconds into the second half gave the Rams their largest lead of the game at 33-23, but Gurley scoring eight of the game's next 10 points cut the lead to four at the under 16 timeout. UMass would continue their charge, eventually taking the lead for the first time since the 8:09 mark in the first half on a Raphiael Putney basket with 11:59 remaining. A Putney dunk pushed the lead out to three, and a pair of Delroy James free throws that cut the UMass lead to 40-39 were answered with two three pointers to push the lead back out to seven at 46-39. Rhode Island would go more than seven minutes without a field goal as UMass pushed their lead out to to as many as 10, and eventually taking an 11-point lead on a Sampson Carter layup with 4:42 remaining. But after a Gary Correia layup made the score 58-47 with 4:12 remaining Rhode Island made their charge, scoring the next eight points to cut the deficit to 58-55 with 2:33 to go. But the Minutemen would do just enough at the foul line while the Rams went cold from the field to hang on. URI next visits Duquesne on Wednesday night while UMass will host Saint Joseph's the same night.
By: Raphielle Johnson |