2008 Woodie Awards
Loss crushes Rams
Evan Crawley
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Sports
03/13/08 - The University of Rhode Island men's basketball team's stay in Atlantic City, N.J. turned out to be a short one.
The Rams suffered a heartbreaking 75-73 loss to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall Wednesday.
Rhody only trailed once in the entire second half; the final 0.3 seconds of the game. The 49ers took the lead on a pair of free throws from sophomore Michael Gerrity following a foul from URI sophomore Keith Cothran.
The Rams had the ball with 20 seconds remaining and 19 on the shot clock, the game tied 73-73, when junior Kahiem Seawright was whistled for a questionable offensive foul away from the basket with 8.4 left.
On the ensuing possession Gerrity, took the ball up court with Cothran hounding him. Gerrity threw a quick head fake at Cothran to gain a step, which was all he needed to get around Cothran and draw the foul.
The Rams led by as many as eight with four points to go, but the 49ers were able to battle back behind the play of senior Leemire Goldwire.
All of this happened with senior Will Daniels watching what could be his final game in a Rhody uniform from the bench after fouling out earlier in the contest. Daniels finished the game with 15 points.
Junior Jimmy Baron broke out with a big game, dropping 15 points in the first half. However, the 49ers clamped down on him in the second half, playing him in both a box-and-one and a stifling man-to-man defense.
Senior Parfait Bitee had 10 points and six assists, while Seawright chipped in with eight points.
This could quite possibly be how the season ends for the Rams and the final game for the careers of Daniels, Bitee and senior Joe Mbang.
An NCAA Tournament berth is out of the question at this point, and it is still uncertain whether or not they will get an invitation to the National Invitational Tournament or new College Basketball Invitational Tournament.
The NIT invites 32 teams that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament, while the CBI will invite 16 additional teams. If the Rams are one of the top 100 teams in the nation, which in all likelihood they still are, then they should get at least one more game this season.
A 21-11 overall record does not look bad for the respective committees, but what also is taken into account is the late-season play of the team - and losing eight of their last 10 games is not going to help Rhody out.
All the Rams can do is sit and wait and see if they have any new messages in their mailbox this Sunday when the respective committees make their selections.
The Rams suffered a heartbreaking 75-73 loss to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall Wednesday.
Rhody only trailed once in the entire second half; the final 0.3 seconds of the game. The 49ers took the lead on a pair of free throws from sophomore Michael Gerrity following a foul from URI sophomore Keith Cothran.
The Rams had the ball with 20 seconds remaining and 19 on the shot clock, the game tied 73-73, when junior Kahiem Seawright was whistled for a questionable offensive foul away from the basket with 8.4 left.
On the ensuing possession Gerrity, took the ball up court with Cothran hounding him. Gerrity threw a quick head fake at Cothran to gain a step, which was all he needed to get around Cothran and draw the foul.
The Rams led by as many as eight with four points to go, but the 49ers were able to battle back behind the play of senior Leemire Goldwire.
All of this happened with senior Will Daniels watching what could be his final game in a Rhody uniform from the bench after fouling out earlier in the contest. Daniels finished the game with 15 points.
Junior Jimmy Baron broke out with a big game, dropping 15 points in the first half. However, the 49ers clamped down on him in the second half, playing him in both a box-and-one and a stifling man-to-man defense.
Senior Parfait Bitee had 10 points and six assists, while Seawright chipped in with eight points.
This could quite possibly be how the season ends for the Rams and the final game for the careers of Daniels, Bitee and senior Joe Mbang.
An NCAA Tournament berth is out of the question at this point, and it is still uncertain whether or not they will get an invitation to the National Invitational Tournament or new College Basketball Invitational Tournament.
The NIT invites 32 teams that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament, while the CBI will invite 16 additional teams. If the Rams are one of the top 100 teams in the nation, which in all likelihood they still are, then they should get at least one more game this season.
A 21-11 overall record does not look bad for the respective committees, but what also is taken into account is the late-season play of the team - and losing eight of their last 10 games is not going to help Rhody out.
All the Rams can do is sit and wait and see if they have any new messages in their mailbox this Sunday when the respective committees make their selections.