Spring Break
Column: Rhody Men head south for A-10s
Anthony ARusso
Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: Sports
03/10/09 -Good news, everyone: It's that time of year again.
The weather is beginning to get warmer, (or so we hope), the birds are chirping after a snowy winter, and of course, post-season college basketball is upon us.
For most of us, this just means that it will be even harder to focus on school, but for the University of Rhode Island men's basketball team, it means leaving the Ryan Center and taking a trip to the bright lights of Atlantic City, N.J., home of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship.
Rhody heads to Jersey with the second seed in the tournament and a subsequent first round bye. The other three teams that get the chance to relax and watch the first round games are No. 1 ranked Xavier University, No. 3 Dayton University and No. 4 Temple University.
The tournament, which features four rounds in four days, will start tomorrow night at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.
The first round includes four games. Each winner will advance to play one of the Bye teams. Rhody will await the winner of No. 7 Duquesne University and No. 10 University of Massachusetts.
If UMass is able to beat Duquesne tomorrow night, they will face URI for the second time in as many games. The Minutemen were able to squeak out a close victory in Kingston on Saturday. Marquis Jones hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to give the Rams a one point lead, but UMass point guard Chris Lowe was able to get to the basket and make a shot off the glass with six tenths of a second remaining to give UMass the one point win.
UMass has its work cut out for it. However, they lost to Duquesne by 17 points early in the season. The Dukes were 9-7 in conference play this year and 18-11 overall. Rhody was able to get a win at Duquesne 73-71 on March 1.
URI and UMass always play each other very closely and this year was no exception. The two teams split their meeting this year, with each squad winning on the others home court. The Rams were able to beat the Minutemen by 12 points in February, but UMass stole the win Saturday to even the season series.
The weather is beginning to get warmer, (or so we hope), the birds are chirping after a snowy winter, and of course, post-season college basketball is upon us.
For most of us, this just means that it will be even harder to focus on school, but for the University of Rhode Island men's basketball team, it means leaving the Ryan Center and taking a trip to the bright lights of Atlantic City, N.J., home of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship.
Rhody heads to Jersey with the second seed in the tournament and a subsequent first round bye. The other three teams that get the chance to relax and watch the first round games are No. 1 ranked Xavier University, No. 3 Dayton University and No. 4 Temple University.
The tournament, which features four rounds in four days, will start tomorrow night at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.
The first round includes four games. Each winner will advance to play one of the Bye teams. Rhody will await the winner of No. 7 Duquesne University and No. 10 University of Massachusetts.
If UMass is able to beat Duquesne tomorrow night, they will face URI for the second time in as many games. The Minutemen were able to squeak out a close victory in Kingston on Saturday. Marquis Jones hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to give the Rams a one point lead, but UMass point guard Chris Lowe was able to get to the basket and make a shot off the glass with six tenths of a second remaining to give UMass the one point win.
UMass has its work cut out for it. However, they lost to Duquesne by 17 points early in the season. The Dukes were 9-7 in conference play this year and 18-11 overall. Rhody was able to get a win at Duquesne 73-71 on March 1.
URI and UMass always play each other very closely and this year was no exception. The two teams split their meeting this year, with each squad winning on the others home court. The Rams were able to beat the Minutemen by 12 points in February, but UMass stole the win Saturday to even the season series.
