2008 Woodie Awards
URI Rams and fans join to demolish PC Friars 77-60
Matt Pavao
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
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The noisy crowds and smothering defense of the Rams beat PC convincingly 77-60 in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,657. The crowd of URI fans started yelling when the team stepped on the court and only got louder as the final whistle sealed the victory.
"This type of game created excitement," head coach Jim Baron said. "It got the fans excited, it got the crowd excited and it got the alumni excited. I mean this is their team; this is Rhode Island. We're doing it together."
Baron and the rest of the team put a lot of time and effort into trying to rally support for the basketball program. Their work was clearly shown during last night's game. When Baron headed into the Ryan Center he stopped and high-fived some fans waiting in line.
"It was a great atmosphere," junior forward Kahiem Seawright said. "I really want to thank the student body. They really came up big; it felt like a North Carolina/Duke game. They had a lot of energy and I hope they continue to come out and support us."
Providence College head coach Tim Welsh saw the impact that the crowd had on the game.
"They were the sixth man out there," Welsh said. The crowd had good energy."
It was easy for the crowd to get excited for a game that URI led nearly the entire night. The Rams shot well and played their best defensive game of the year, hitting 50 percent of their shots while holding PC to just over 30 percent shooting.
"Obviously it's our rival and a good team so we stepped up, which is great," senior forward Will Daniels said. "I think we played good defense and held them to that percentage shooting. Coach Baron told us that our defense needed to catch up with our offense and we just went out and did that."
URI kept the PC offense off balance all game, forcing 19 turnovers. Geoff McDermott, who averages 11 points a game and leads the team in assists, was held to just four points and no assists.