URI Men’s Hoops Tops Fordham 72-52

KINGSTON—The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team rebounded from a 10-point loss to the University of Massachusetts in its last game with a 72-52 victory over Fordham University Wednesday at the Thomas M. Ryan Center.

“We didn’t look past Fordham to look to Temple and Dayton, we knew we had a good Fordham team coming in,” senior Delroy James said.  “We just had to do what we had to do to come away with the win.”

The second half proved to be the difference for Rhody, as through the first 20 minutes URI struggled to shoot the ball much like they have during its previous losses this season.

Entering Wednesday’s contest the Rhody Rams had shot just a shade over 37 percent in their eight losses this season, as opposed to 51.63 percent in their 13 wins.

“The most important thing to work on your shot is to work hard, to get in the gym and take as many shots as you can,” sophomore Nik Malesevic said.  “That’s the cure for shooting.”

In accordance with those numbers, Rhody shot 32.3 percent from the field and 1-for-13 from three in the first half, and trailed the Bronx Rams 28-25 at the break.

To the Rhody Rams’ credit, however, they turned it around in the second half with a 13-0 over the first 4:15 of the second frame.

“We did a great job of stepping it up with the intensity in the second half,” URI head coach Jim Baron said. 

In their previous two losses to the UMass and La Salle University though, the Rams had also started the second half hot before falling off the pace.

On Wednesday there was no let down in the second half for the Rhody Rams, as URI kept up its pressure and outscored Fordham 26-8 over the first 10:12 of the half.

“It was like night and day with us scoring the ball,” Baron said.  “I just felt like we needed to uptempo this game, get the crowd into it, get our athletes involved, and I thought our guys really responded.”

Rhody shot 55.6 percent from the floor and 6-for-9 from down town to handily defeat the Bronx Rams by 20 points.

“If you make shots you win games, defense wins games also, but you can’t win any games without making any shots,” James said. 

It sounds pretty simple that the team that does a better job of putting the ball in the basket will win the game, but it is essential to the way Rhody plays basketball.

“We made some shots in the second half, so we were able to get the press going, the crowd got into it and that was good for us,” James said.

When the Rams are missing shots they are unable to set up their full court press, which was on point Wednesday in forcing Fordham into 15 turnovers.

URI was able to convert those turnovers into 16 points at the other end, while Fordham had zero points off of Rhody’s five turnovers.

By being able to set up the press it forces teams to play at a faster pace, a style of play that favors the Rhody Rams.

“I told our guys that we wanted to come after them with the press, and force the issue,” Baron said.  “It was a real positive for us.”

It was also key for Rhody’s players to do a little bit of everything in the win Wednesday as they try to account for a bench that has grown even thinner as of late.

“This is probably one of the most trying teams I’ve ever gone through,” Baron said.  “Playing different positions is real important when you have situations where all of sudden you have guys going down.”

Juniors Orion Outerbridge and Jamal Wilson are listed as day-to-day with leg injuries and did not play, and sophomore Daniel West is no longer with the team after withdrawing from the University.

Sophomore Akeem Richmond played all 40 minutes against Fordham, and finished with 10 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

“He could have ran back there and just kept playing some more,” James said.  “Akeem plays the game very hard, and people don’t know how hard he really goes to the glass.” 

James had a balanced game as well with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Malesevic chipped in with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.

If the Rhody Rams are going to have success going forward, they are going to need this kind of effort in all aspects of the game going forward.

URI will look to build on its win Saturday at 2 p.m. when they travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple University at the Liacouras Center.  The game will be televised on ESPN2.

“We get ready tomorrow, we’ll watch film, break it down, and they’re a very good basketball team,” Baron said.  “We’ve got to step up, make shots and make plays.”

BEYOND THE GAME…

Those who were in attendance Wednesday night also may have noticed that the URI coaching staff, athletics department and Ryan Center staff put away their dress pants in favor of jeans.

This was not a fashion statement, but rather done to honor the memory of Dave LaProva.  LaProva, who passed away suddenly on October 4, 2009 of a heart attack, worked in operations at the Ryan Center.

“You talk about fantastic people, Dave was the best,” Baron said.  “When he passed a part of my heart went out with him and his family, because he’s a special guy.”

To honor his memory, the staff donated five dollars to the American Heart Association’s “Wear Red” Campaign in addition to wearing jeans during the game.

To hear more about what coach Baron had to say about LaProva watch the postgame interview video accompanying this article.