Game of the Night
Rhode Island Rams 67, St. Joseph’s Hawks 72
The Hawks were able to hang on against Rhode Island in a tightly-contested game on Saturday afternoon. Both teams scored 38 points in the first half, and the Hawks led by a couple of points for the majority of the second half. Though the Hawks led by as many as 9 coming out of the halftime locker room, Rhode Island went on a 10-0 run to re-take the lead at the 7:18 mark. The Hawks would respond though, getting two huge three point buckets from Aaron Brown. Leading at the end of the game, St. Joseph’s would make its free throws and secure a solid victory.
Hassan Martin had a very good showing in his first game back for the Rams. He led the way for Rhode Island with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Though he was great scoring the basketball, he also gave it away 7 times. Kuran Iverson had a good game for the Rams with 13 points and 3 of 4 shooting from three point range. All in all, Rhode Island put up a very good fight on the road against one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10. St. Joseph’s just proved to be better down the stretch. Rhode Island picks up its first conference loss, as it now stands at 2-1. Next up for the Rams is a road matchup against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday.
St. Joseph’s got very good contributions from Deandre’ Bembry and Aaron Brown. Bembry, fresh off a brand new haircut, led all scores with 22 and pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds. Brown shot the ball great, as he was able to drop 19 points and connect on all 4 of his three point attempts. Isaiah Miles was limited for most of the game due to foul trouble, but he still managed 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting. The Hawks improve to 2-1 in conference play; they’ll travel to play George Mason this Wednesday.
The Rest
Richmond Spiders 93, Fordham Rams 82
This one proved to be one of the more interesting matchups of the day. After Fordham took an early double digit lead, the Spiders stormed back with a 30-7 run to end the half; they led 47-39 going into the break. Right when Richmond looked as if it were going to run away with it, Fordham came back and took the lead in the second half. But with the game on the line down the stretch, the Spiders pulled away and handed Fordham its first home loss of the season. The Spiders were led by ShawnDre’ Jones and Marshall Wood with 35 and 29 points respectively. They move to 1-2 in conference play. The Rams also move to 1-2 in conference play; they were led by Mandell Thomas with 22 points. Ryan Rhoomes had 18.
VCU Rams 72, Saint Louis Billikens 56
Havoc ensued on Saturday afternoon when the Rams went on the road to face the Billikens. VCU shut down Saint Louis in the first half, allowing the Billikens to make just 2 field goals. But Saint Louis was able to sink 20 free throws and stay within four at the break. Despite hanging around in the first half, Saint Louis got dominated in the second. The Rams managed to force 17 turnovers on the night. Mo Alie-Cox led the way for VCU with 16 points; Miles Reynolds had 17 for the Billikens. The Rams move to 3-0 in the conference while the Billikens drop to 1-2.
