
How It Happened
Rhode Island suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to La Salle 87-75 at the Ryan Center Thursday night.
After a layup by freshman Cyril Langevine at the 14:00 mark of the first half, the Rams (10-6, 2-2 A-10) did not score for seven minutes. During that span, La Salle (9-5, 3-1 A-10) scored 12 unanswered points to establish a 29-11 lead. The Rams finally struck back with a three-ball by junior Jarvis Garrett with 6:57 left in the half. The Explorers led by as much as 21 points, taking a 43-22 advantage into the break. It was the first time this season Rhode Island has gone into halftime trailing by double digits .
La Salle took its largest lead of the game when it went up 54-26 with 16:46 remaining in the second half. Rhode Island clawed it's way back over the next 10 minutes, using a 32-16 run to cut its deficit to 12 at 70-58.
An old fashioned three-point play by Garrett cut the Explorer lead to nine with 40 seconds left. However, the late surge wasn't enough.
Inside the Box Score
- Junior Jared Terrell led the Rams with 14 points, four assists, three rebounds, and one block in 36 minutes of play.
- Senior Hassan Martin picked up four fouls in 15 minutes of action on the night. He finished with two points, two rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
- Junior E.C. Matthews had 10 points, two assists, and one steal in the loss.
- Sophomore Christion Thompson returned to the court for the Rams after missing the last six games with an injury. He logged four minutes on the night.
- URI finished with just two steals on the night, compared to eight for La Salle. The two Rhode Island steals matched a season low for the Rams, who also had two last time out at Dayton.
- The Rhody reserves contributed 31 points from the bench, while La Salle's non-starters combined for 13 points. Freshman Jeff Dowtin (11), junior Stanford Robinson (10), freshman Cyril Langevine (6) and sophomore Nicola Akele (4) each contributed for the Rams.
- La Salle held a 40-30 edge in points in the paint, however Rhode Island had a 14-7 advantage in second-chance points.
- The Explorers outrebounded the Rams, 37-31 overall.
Stats of the Game
- 57.8 - La Salle shot a season-high 57.8 percent for the game, going 26-for-45 from the field. It marked the first time this season the Rams allowed an opponent to connect on more than 47 percent of its field goal attempts.
- 30 - The Explorers also made a season-best 30 free throws, finishing the night 30-for-41 from the line.
- 11 - The Rams buried 11 shots from long range, marking the fourth game in a row that URI connected on 10 or more 3-pointers.
- 1 - The loss is Rhode Island's first at home this season, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive wins at the Ryan Center dating back to last season.
What's Next
The Rams return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host Massachusetts at 2:30 p.m.