Baron leads team to victory over Bonnies

02/12/09 - Jimmy Baron scored a season-high 28 points to lead the University of Rhode Island men's basketball team to an 87-80 victory over St. Bonaventure University last night at the Ryan Center. Trailing by 15 at halftime, it seemed as if the Bonnies were on their way to a blow out victory. But Baron's 23 points in the second half led Rhody to their highest second half total of the season.

"As a team we were embarrassed, the way we played in the first half," Baron said. "We went into halftime and we were very emotional in the locker room, very upset with each other for the way we played. Our defense was not good in the first half and I think that was the biggest adjustment we made in the second."

The Rams were able to turn the Bonnies over 12 times in the second half, 18 for the game leading to 24 points off turnovers.

"They were working a lot harder than we were," coach Baron said. "I thought in the second half we came out a lot more focused, a lot more determined on the defensive end, and [we] went right back at them. They're a good team. I think this league as a whole is a really good league."

Baron, who was playing with a rib injury from the game against Temple University on Sunday, shot 10-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Juniors Keith Cothran and Delroy James chipped in with 14 and 13 points respectively. Marquis Jones scored nine points and dished out six assists. His six assists put him over the century mark for the season, becoming the first Rhody sophomore since Howard Smith to reach 100 assists in a season.

St. Bonaventure controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half. The Bonnies tied the game at 10-10 when Maurice Thomas converted a three-point play. St. Bonaventure opened up a 19-15 lead with 12:47 to go, but Cothran brought Rhody back with a steal and a three-point play on the other end. That was as close as the Rams got to the Bonnies in the first half, as they began to pull away leading by as many as 15. St. Bonaventure closed the half on an 11-1 run, taking 49-34 into the half.

"We're a resilient team," Baron said. "We're a deep team. We're a team with a lot of veterans who have been through this stuff before. We knew we had to pull it out. We knew we had to give a lot more effort. If we did do that, we knew good things would come."

In the second half, Baron made those good things happen, scoring 12 points in the first six minutes to bring the Rams back within two at 56-54. Rhody kept the game tight and tied the game at 64 on a deep three from Baron.

The Ryan Center erupted when the Rams took their first lead of the second half on another Baron three-pointer, making the score 69-66. This was their first lead since the 14:42 mark of the first half.

Thomas came right back down the floor and hit a jumper to put the Bonnies within one. Baron responded with his sixth three-pointer of the game to put Rhody up 72-68. On the next possession, James stole the ball and took it down the floor for a dunk, putting Rhody up 76-68 with 2:13 left in the game. The Rams hit their free throws to seal the 87-80 victory.

"I thought it was two halves," coach Baron said. "We came out a little flat [and] they took advantage of it. I think that we were a lot more focused for whatever reason [in the second half]."

St. Bonaventure was 15-of-15 from the free throw line and out shot URI 48.3 percent to 46.2 percent for the game. Freshman Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies with 19 points. Rhody was 20-27 from the line and outscored the Bonnies 38-36 inside the paint.

The Rams improve to 6-4 in Atlantic 10 Conference play (17-8 overall.) Rhody will host St. Louis University on Saturday. Tip-off time is set for 2 p.m.