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Web Exclusive! ARusso's A-10 Jive
No airballs here
Anthony ARusso
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Sports
02/26/09 - Every win is a big win, but some wins are undeniably bigger than others.
Last night's win for URI over the Dayton University Flyers can be classified as enormous.
Dayton came into the Ryan Center as the second place team in the Atlantic 10 with a 9-3-conference record and an overall mark of 23-4. The team left the Ryan Center with the image of hundreds of pink-clad Rhody fans storming the court and its third consecutive road loss.
Now Rhode Island is sitting at third place in the A-10, only one game behind nationally ranked Xavier University and a half game behind second place Temple University.
The Rams got the high profile win that they needed and are now in great position to get a bye for the A-10 tournament with only two games left to play.
Last night's victory also put Rhody on the bubble of the Big Dance, but you certainly will not hear that from them.
"No, I have no idea what that is," Jimmy Baron said after the game in response to a question about a possible NCAA Tournament bid, "All I know is that we got Duquesne," he said.
Jimmy stressed that the team will only focus on one game at a time, learning from last year's mistakes.
Last year's Rams had success early in the season, but fell apart in conference play. This year, the team is finding success at just the right time.
URI has now won its last five games and nine of its last 10. The Rams, who were picked to finish ninth in the conference in the preseason, now have an A-10 record of 10-4 and are 21-8 overall. They will visit a good Duquesne University team next and then host the University of Massachusetts Minutemen for the last regular season game of the year.
The UMass game will mark the last game at the Ryan Center for Baron and fellow seniors Kahiem Seawright and Jason Francis. All three seniors stepped up against Dayton and led their squad to the biggest win of the year.
"The senior leadership has been tremendous," head coach Jim Baron said, speaking of his three seniors. "They show up, they have great passion, great desire, and they believe."
Last night's win for URI over the Dayton University Flyers can be classified as enormous.
Dayton came into the Ryan Center as the second place team in the Atlantic 10 with a 9-3-conference record and an overall mark of 23-4. The team left the Ryan Center with the image of hundreds of pink-clad Rhody fans storming the court and its third consecutive road loss.
Now Rhode Island is sitting at third place in the A-10, only one game behind nationally ranked Xavier University and a half game behind second place Temple University.
The Rams got the high profile win that they needed and are now in great position to get a bye for the A-10 tournament with only two games left to play.
Last night's victory also put Rhody on the bubble of the Big Dance, but you certainly will not hear that from them.
"No, I have no idea what that is," Jimmy Baron said after the game in response to a question about a possible NCAA Tournament bid, "All I know is that we got Duquesne," he said.
Jimmy stressed that the team will only focus on one game at a time, learning from last year's mistakes.
Last year's Rams had success early in the season, but fell apart in conference play. This year, the team is finding success at just the right time.
URI has now won its last five games and nine of its last 10. The Rams, who were picked to finish ninth in the conference in the preseason, now have an A-10 record of 10-4 and are 21-8 overall. They will visit a good Duquesne University team next and then host the University of Massachusetts Minutemen for the last regular season game of the year.
The UMass game will mark the last game at the Ryan Center for Baron and fellow seniors Kahiem Seawright and Jason Francis. All three seniors stepped up against Dayton and led their squad to the biggest win of the year.
"The senior leadership has been tremendous," head coach Jim Baron said, speaking of his three seniors. "They show up, they have great passion, great desire, and they believe."
