Rhode Island extends win streak to 14 with win over VCU
Rhode Island continued its streak of dominance Friday night with a commanding 81-68 victory over Virginia Commonwealth.
URI (19-3, 11-0 Atlantic 10) entered the Siegel Center in Virginia ranked No. 22 in the nation, hoping to extend its win streak to 14.
VCU (14-9, 6-4 A-10) also came into the game on a bit of a hot streak, having won its last three.
The two teams went back and forth in the early stages of the game, with URI unable to pull away with a sizable lead, despite leading for most of the first half.
With the score deadlocked at 27 a piece, URI was able to string together a 9-0 run, but VCU answered quickly as freshman Sean Mobley hit back-to-back threes to reduce the deficit to just three.
The two teams continued to shoot well for the remainder of the half, with Rhode Island up three with a score of 41-38 at the half.
URI came out in the second half firing on all cylinders, as they were able to pull away with the help of freshman Cyril Langevine, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds.
URI would outscore VCU 40-30 in the second half, shooting 43.8 percent from the field.
Senior E.C. Matthews led URI with 18 points, while Jared Terrell added 16. Justin Tillman led VCU with 22 points on 7-16 shooting.
St. Bonaventure edges Duquesne 84-81
St. Bonaventure defeated Duquesne on Saturday night with the help of senior guard Jaylen Adams to earn its fourth straight victory.
Adams was on fire from the start, hitting key shots and helping the Bonnies (16-6, 6-4 A-10) keep the game close. He would finish with 40 points on 14-22 from the field.
It was neck-and-neck for much of the game, as the Dukes’ Tarin Smith hit a clutch three with 42 seconds remaining to tie it up at 81.
Adams capped off his big day by hitting a three with five seconds left in the game, to bring his three-point total to eight and to seal the win for St. Bonaventure.
Guard Matt Mobley added 19 points for the Bonnies. Smith came off the bench to lead Duquesne (15-9, 6-5 A-10) with 24 points, and guard Rene Castro-Caneddy chipped in 21 of his own.
Both teams were on fire from the field, with St. Bonaventure shooting 48.4 percent from the field and the Dukes shooting 55.6 percent. Despite the great shooting, both teams struggled at the free throw line, shooting under 70 percent.
Timothy Flaherty can be reached at [email protected].
