Spring Break
Men's basketball shoots past Division III RIC in exhibition
Matt Swiss
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
11/13/08 - The University of Rhode Island men's basketball team finished off its preseason with a blowout win over Rhode Island College, 109-69. The Rams ended their preseason with a perfect 2-0 record with both victories won at home.
"I felt like we earned the right to be here," RIC coach Bob Walsh said. "Just taking the floor was a huge win for us. I thought we really took it to them, which is great. I'm just really proud of our players, our team and our program."
"Rhode Island College is a terrific team and they're going to win a lot of games just like they have the past two years," senior Jimmy Baron said. "As one of the captains on this team, one of my jobs is to make sure we didn't take this team lightly. They're a good team and they gave us a good run in the first half."
Ultimately, Baron's 26 points, combined with the 19 points from junior guard Keith Cothran were too much to handle for RIC. Sophomore guard Marquis Jones added 11 assists as well and helped his Rhody squad put away its in-state rival.
"It's my job," Jones said when asked of his 11 assists. "Trying to imitate Parfait [Bitee] as a guard is impossible, but I'm trying to do my best job at it."
After URI won the tip off, Cothran came up short on his first shot of the day. RIC senior forward Kaseem Johnson put his team on the board first when he nailed his first shot, giving RIC a 2-0 lead.
URI came away empty after its second trip as well. RIC senior guard Tirrell Hill extended his team's lead to 5-0, after he nailed his second attempted three points of the game.
Just over a minute and a half into the game, Baron hit a wide open lay-up which cut RIC's lead to 5-2. URI then went on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 12-7. The run was highlighted by two big dunks and a lay-up from Cothran, a two pointer in the lane from senior forward Kahiem Seawright, and a deep two pointer from Baron.
RIC shortened URI's lead to 40-30 with 1:31 remaining in the first half when RIC sophomore guard Antone Gray banked a floater off the glass for his third and fourth points of the game. URI answered with an 8-0 run to close out the half, pushing its lead to 48-30 at the break.
"I felt like we earned the right to be here," RIC coach Bob Walsh said. "Just taking the floor was a huge win for us. I thought we really took it to them, which is great. I'm just really proud of our players, our team and our program."
"Rhode Island College is a terrific team and they're going to win a lot of games just like they have the past two years," senior Jimmy Baron said. "As one of the captains on this team, one of my jobs is to make sure we didn't take this team lightly. They're a good team and they gave us a good run in the first half."
Ultimately, Baron's 26 points, combined with the 19 points from junior guard Keith Cothran were too much to handle for RIC. Sophomore guard Marquis Jones added 11 assists as well and helped his Rhody squad put away its in-state rival.
"It's my job," Jones said when asked of his 11 assists. "Trying to imitate Parfait [Bitee] as a guard is impossible, but I'm trying to do my best job at it."
After URI won the tip off, Cothran came up short on his first shot of the day. RIC senior forward Kaseem Johnson put his team on the board first when he nailed his first shot, giving RIC a 2-0 lead.
URI came away empty after its second trip as well. RIC senior guard Tirrell Hill extended his team's lead to 5-0, after he nailed his second attempted three points of the game.
Just over a minute and a half into the game, Baron hit a wide open lay-up which cut RIC's lead to 5-2. URI then went on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 12-7. The run was highlighted by two big dunks and a lay-up from Cothran, a two pointer in the lane from senior forward Kahiem Seawright, and a deep two pointer from Baron.
RIC shortened URI's lead to 40-30 with 1:31 remaining in the first half when RIC sophomore guard Antone Gray banked a floater off the glass for his third and fourth points of the game. URI answered with an 8-0 run to close out the half, pushing its lead to 48-30 at the break.
