Ben Bentil lifted Providence College to a 74-72 victory over host Rhode Island Saturday at the Ryan Center behind a buzzer-beating tip-in as the final seconds ticked in Kingston, Rhode Island.

The Friars led the Rams 72-70 with about 25 seconds left on the clock when URI inbounded and Jared Terrell hit a mid-range jumper to tie the game and give Providence one final possession.

After electing not to take a timeout with about six seconds left, the Friars inbounded the ball to their best player, point guard Kris Dunn, who raced up the floor and slithered through multiple defenders to get to the rim before missing the layup.

With all eyes on Dunn, Bentil boxed his man out and got in perfect position for an offensive rebound tip-in right before the clock hit zero.

Bentil finished the game with 23 points and eight rebounds while Dunn chipped in 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

In a tightly contested game throughout, URI took a 36-32 lead into the half with both teams playing well.

The Rams held the early advantage behind four 3-pointers (4-of-11 compared to PC’s 1-of-5), including three from freshman guard Christion Thompson (who went 3-of-3 in the half).

Thompson provided an early boost off the bench and finished with 10 points in 19 minutes of action.

Rhode Island also received some second half scoring from their guards Jarvis Garrett and Terrell, who finished the day with 17 and 19 points respectively. Forward Hassan Martin chipped in 15 in the loss.

But Bentil led Providence’s second half charge, scoring 15 points in the final frame on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting from the field. He scored the final four points for the Friars, adding a temporary go-ahead dunk with about 35 seconds left to give Providence its 72-70 lead.

With the buzzer-beating victory, the Friars improve to 8-1 while the Rams fall to 5-3.

Dayton downs North Florida in bounce back victory

Dayton hosted North Florida Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena and bounced back from its first loss of the season last week in a 86-71 victory.

Both teams got off to solid starts, and by the end of the first half Dayton led 38-35, setting the stage for what appeared would be a close finish.

North Florida’s Beau Beech led the team in first half scoring with 15 points, all on 3-pointers, going 5-of-5 from behind the line to keep the game close.

But the Flyers began to pull away in the second half as the Ospreys finally began to miss from beyond the arc. After connecting on 9-of-16 three-pointers in the first half, they only converted on 5-of-16 attempts to finish the game.

As North Florida missed its shots from deep, Dayton continued to rebound and convert on its shot attempts.

The Flyers held the rebounding advantage.

Charles Cook led the way for Dayton, finishing the game with 24 points, five assists and seven rebounds while center Steve McElvene used his 6-foot-11 frame to make an impact on the game with his size. He pulled down 16 rebounds while scoring 14 points and recording four blocks, anchoring the middle for Dayton.

Beech finished the game with 18 points for the Ospreys. He hit 6-of-8 from deep while filling the stat sheet with four rebounds and three assists.

Dayton moved to 6-1 with its victory while North Florida dropped to 6-4 for the season.

Zachary Borrelli can be reached at [email protected].