RHODE ISLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM SCORES OVER 100 POINTS FOR FIRST TIME AT THE RYAN CENTER
Runnin' Rams Shoot Past Saint Joseph's 101-74
(KINGSTON, RI – January 14, 2010) – The Rhode Island men's basketball team cracked 100 points for the first time ever at the Global Spectrum-managed Ryan Center with a 101-74 victory over Saint Joseph's Wednesday night to earn its first league win.
Rhody's 101-points also marked the first time URI has surpassed the 100 point plateau since it scored 111 points at Duquesne on February 11, 2007. With the win, Rhody improved to 13-2 on the year and 1-1 in Atlantic 10 play. This season the Rams are 7-1 at home.
The win also handed head coach Jim Baron his 350th career win.
Junior Delroy James totaled a career-high 24 points to lead the way for the Rams. Freshman Akeem Richmond also turned in a career-high performance as he netted 21 points, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including five from beyond the arc.
Rhody connected on 53.6 percent from the floor and also out-rebounded the Hawks 41-35.
The Rams never trailed as they raced out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to forcing turnovers on the first four SJU possessions. URI forced the Hawks into 19 turnovers. Saint Joseph's entered the game averaging just 13.7 turnovers per game.
James and junior guard Marquis Jones each connected from beyond the arc to give the Rams a 13-2 lead at the 15:56 mark.
Saint Joseph's responded with a 6-2 push over the next 1:20, making it 15-8 with 14:49 to go in the first half, but that was as close as the Hawks would get for the remainder of the game.
Five minutes later, Rhody would go on to increase its lead to 15 points, leading 32-17. URI led by as many as 31 points in the first half and took a 58-34 lead into the locker room.
Richmond scored 18 points in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc.
In the second half, Rhody outscored Saint Joseph's 43-40 and URI led by 24 points-or-more for the final 20 minutes.
URI returns to action on Saturday as it heads to Fordham. The game is set to tipoff at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.GoRhody.com.
Global Spectrum (global-spectrum.com) is the fastest growing firm in the public assembly facility management field with more than 85 facilities throughout the United States and Canada. The Philadelphia-based company is part of one of the world's largest sports and entertainment companies, Comcast-Spectacor, which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, Flyers Skate Zone, a series of community ice skating rinks, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, a regional sports programming network, Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage services provider, New Era Tickets, a full-service ticketing and marketing product for public assembly facilities, and Front Row Marketing Services, a commercial rights sales company and 3601 Creative Group, a full-service in-house advertising agency. In a partnership with Disson Skating, Comcast-Spectacor annually produces 10 nationally televised figure skating spectaculars on NBC.
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