Rhody Defeated in the Closing Seconds by Massachusetts

March 7, 2009

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KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Jimmy Baron scored a game-high 22 points, but it was not enough as the Rhode Island men's basketball team fell 72-71 to Massachusetts in the closing second Saturday afternoon at the Ryan Center on Senior Day.

Baron finished the game 9-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. His four treys moved him into first-place all-time on the Atlantic 10's 3-point made list (345), which surpassed La Salle's Darnell Harris with 345.

Rhody's loss at home was just its second this season. URI's first loss of the year at home came against nationally-ranked Xavier (Jan. 15). Six of Rhode Island's losses have come by five points or less.

Senior Kahiem Seawright pulled down a game and season-high 16 rebounds. As a team, URI outrebounded UMass 48-35. The Rams are now 16-2 when outrebounding their opponent.

"We've got 22 wins on the season and I'm really proud of our guys," said Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron. "We need to work on communicating and shaping up defensively going into the Atlantic 10 tournament."

Rhode Island (22-9 overall; 11-5 Atlantic 10) trailed by just four points at the half (41-37) despite going 0-for-12 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, UMass opened up a seven-point lead with 17:43 remaining.

Rhody trailed for a majority of the second half, but with 2:24 to go in the game, Baron connected on his third 3-pointer of the day to give the Rams their first lead of the half at 66-64.

UMass reclaimed the lead with 1:46 to go, but Baron connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the afternoon to give Rhody a 69-67 lead with 1:24 to go.

Less than a minute later, UMass took a 70-69 lead with 38 seconds, but sophomore Marquis Jones netted a pair of free-throws to give Rhody a 71-70 with just six seconds remaining.

In the final six seconds, UMass guard Chris Lowe went the length of the floor for a layup to secure the win. Lowe finished the game with a team-high 18 points.

"I give a lot of credit to Chris Lowe," Baron said. "He's a terrific player and he made some great shots for them."

Rhode Island returns to action Thursday at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championship in Atlantic City, N.J.