Rams stepping up game despite loss against Duke

11/19/08 - On Sunday afternoon in front of a national audience, the University of Rhode Island Rams fell inches short of doing something incredible.In a game against the Duke University Blue Devils at the vaunted Cameron Indoor Stadium, URI lost by just three points and gave the fourth-winningest men's basketball program of all-time as much as it could handle.

Duke had won 61 straight games against non-conference opponents at home and 192 of its last 195. The last non-ACC team to beat Duke at Cameron was St. Johns University in 2000. When it hosted URI, Rhody was not afraid.

From the opening minute, the Rams played their game and did not seem intimidated by the atmosphere. They came out swinging and the Blue Devils were shocked.

Delroy James had his best game as a Ram, and it came at a good time. James had 21 points, made nine of his 12 field goal attempts and led the team in rebounds with eight.

Marquis Jones showed poise and confidence at the point in one of the toughest, if not the most hostile place for a basketball player to perform.

And, of course, who could forget Jimmy Baron, who was lights-out from beyond the arc, especially in the second half when he scored 21 of his game-high 24 points.

The three-point line was moved back a foot this year in college basketball, but that has absolutely no effect on Baron, who nailed a few jaw-dropping shots from way out with defenders in his face.

Among those impressed, and surprised, with the effort of the Rams was Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of the greatest basketball minds of all-time.

"I don't think our guys expected the level of play," Krzyzewski said. "Don't get me wrong. We respected Rhode Island. But they played at a really high level tonight. I thought it knocked us back."

The television announcers on ESPNU also praised the Rams throughout the game, and while all the props should be given to Rhody for playing as well as they did at Duke, it will not change reality.

They lost.

Duke outscored Rhody 5-2 in the final minute and the Rams fell to 1-1.

While this was a tremendous opportunity for the Rams to catapult themselves into a national spotlight that was so nearly captured, at the end of the day it was a non-conference loss and a learning experience.

Rhody is now 1-1 with an entire season left to play. The team still has a few high-profile games left on the non-conference schedule, such as Pennsylvania State University and Oklahoma State University.

The Rams had to make a second half comeback in their opener against Brown University, and play Duke two days later. The Rams now know that they can compete with anyone.

Rhody, oddly enough, played poorly in its victory but phenomenally in its loss. The Rams shot poorly against Brown and were dominated in the paint. But they played their game at Duke; shot well, attacked the glass and defended Duke scorers effectively. They will have to continue that style of play to be successful this year.

In my eyes, the team came into this season without a clear-cut identity, but now has one. To play Duke that well in the second game of the year after losing three of its best players shows that this team is tough, determined, and, well, really good.

For 39 minutes, URI had one of the best basketball teams in the country. It played fiercely and fearlessly in a place where nobody but Duke ever wins. If it can sustain what it did in Durham, they will be an immensely difficult team to beat.

The Rhody Rams may have lost on Sunday, but they definitely won over some critics. People who said this team was not very good are going to pay a little more attention now.

After a showdown at Monmouth University, the Rams will be back at the Ryan Center on Nov. 22 to host Virginia Commonwealth University.