The regular season finish line is in sight. We are nine days removed from Brooklyn. At this point the only thing remaining constant in the Atlantic Ten is Dayton’s dominance. Yesterday Saint Louis went into Kingston and posted a 72-62 victory over Rhode Island. Travis Ford’s Billikens get closer to a double bye. On the other side David Cox’s Rams are on thin ice with little margin for error.
Possessions: 70
Offensive efficiency: Saint Louis 103, Rhode Island 89
The key factor: Offensive rebounding percentage. In ‘raw’ numbers Saint Louis owned a 45-26 edge in the rebounding department. The OREB Pct., Saint Louis leads the A10 in that category, saw the Bills owning a 43-23 per cent advantage. They are a very physical group and obviously URI did not have an answer.
Saint Louis had five players in double figure scoring-an impressive display of spreading the wealth. They were led by Jordan Goodwin and Javonte Perkins with 17 points each.
A down side for the victors was being forced into 17 turnovers for an extremely high, and careless, 24 per cent turnover rate. URI did care for the ball at a better rate with 11 turnovers (16 per cent TO rate).
Fats Russell led URI with 17 points. An interesting note was Russell having more steals (8) than field goals (5). Russell did have a game high 6 assists against 2 turnovers in 32 minutes. Cyril Langevine led the Rams with 11 boards (4 offensive). He couldn’t do it alone. Not facing the likes of the Billikens’ Hasahn French, leading the way with 14 rebounds.
The three point line was not the answer as URI shot 3 of 18 for 17 per cent. Finding life was good and effective from two point range (29 of 55 for 53 per cent) Saint Louis attempted only four threes. They hit two.
Records: Rhode Island 20-8 (12-4), Saint Louis 21-8 (10-6).
Finishing the regular season: URI will host Dayton then visit UMass to wrap it up. Saint Louis will be at George Mason before entertaining St. Bonaventure.
The leaders in efficiency (conference games only):
| Offensive Efficiency | |
| Dayton | 113 |
| Davidson | 111 |
| Richmond | 106 |
| St .Bonaventure | 105 |
| Duquesne | 104 |
Numbers courtesy kenpom.com.
