Men's Basketball
Rams Drop 75-73 Decision to Charlotte in Opening Round of A-10 Championship
March 13, 2008
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Jimmy Baron tallied a game-high 25 points and two other Rams scored in double figures as the Rhode Island basketball team fell to sixth-seeded Charlotte in the opening round of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship.
Rhody took over the lead midway through the first half and did not trail again until Michael Garrity hit two free throws with .3 seconds, after a foul was whistled, to give the Niners the 75-73 victory.
"This is a very disappointing loss for us," said head coach Jim Baron. "It was a fantastic game - very physical with both teams hitting some monster shots - but in the end, its tough to lose another one of these games that could go either way."
Baron, who led all scorers, hit four three pointers and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
"My teammates helped me out a lot tonight, setting up some key screens that made it possible to hit those shots," explained Baron. "We played hard the whole game, we just had some very costly turnovers."
"We layed it all out on the line tonight," added Will Daniels, who chipped in with 15 points and five rebounds in the loss.
Charlotte jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before a Parfait Bitee three-pointer capped a 13-3 Rhody run, putting the Rams on top (15-14) for the first time in the half. The Niners tied things up twice, but were unable to push past URI through the remainder of the half as Baron went on to net 11 of his 15 first-half points in the final eight minutes, sending Rhode Island into the break with a 37-32 advantage.
Lamonte Ulmer's basket three minutes into the second frame put the Rams on top, 44-36, but Charlotte clawed its way back, using a 14-7 push to get within one (51-50) with 11:20 left to play.
Rhody tallied eight straight points to go back up by nine (59-50) but Leemire Goldwire drained back-to-back-to-back threes to cut URI's lead to one (72-71) with 1:12 remaining in the game. Bitee then connected on one-of-two free throws to give the Rams a two-point lead before An'Juan Wilderness sank a pair of foul shots to tie things up at 73-73 with 38 seconds left on the clock.
Seawright was whistled for a moving screen with 8.8 seconds to go, which put the ball back in the Niners' hands and set up the gamewinning play.
