URI climbs to third place in conference

02/26/09 - The University of Rhode Island men's basketball team (21-8 overall, 10-4 A-10) defeated the University of Dayton, 93-91, on a last second overtime buzzer beater Wednesday night at the Ryan Center for the third annual "Pink Out."With just a little more than eight seconds remaining in overtime, sophomore point guard Marquis Jones drove to the basket and converted a last second reverse lay-up as time expired.

"[There were] 8.9 seconds on the clock, I wanted to get a pick and roll with Kahiem [Seawright,]" Jones said. "We had success with it early. We went to it and they switched. I just tried to take advantage of the opportunity to get to the basket."

Five Rhody players reached double figures, contributing to their fifth consecutive victory. Seawright, Jimmy Baron and Keith Cothran led the Rams with 19 points apiece. Delroy James scored 18 off the bench. URI is 15-4 when James has come off the bench in his last 19 games. Jones added 13 points.

"I just had to stay mentally tough today," Seawright, who scored five of Rhody's 15 overtime points with four fouls, said. "I got some fouls and I had to go to the bench. [Rhody Assistant] Coach [Kevin] Clark was telling me my time was going to come. I just made some plays. I want to thank my teammates. I'd like to thank the student body, though. I think the student body was tremendous. They were loud the whole game."

The first half was a high-energy, fast-paced battle. The Flyers got off to an early 11-7 lead before Seawright and James tied up the game on the next two Ram possessions. The Rams got their first lead of the game on a Jones three-pointer to put them in front 14-13 with 14:11 remaining in the half.

The teams went up-and-down the floor exchanging buckets. Rhody took their largest lead of the half with 7:58 to go as Seawright converted a lay-up putting the Rams in front 35-29. Rhody was able to hold onto that seven-point margin leading 52-44 at the break.

URI shot 58.6 percent in the first half scoring 52 points on a team that only allows 59 points on average a game. Dayton shot 63 percent to stay within seven.

In the second half, the Flyers were able to slow down the Rhody attack as they battled their way back into the game.

Dayton tied the game at 64 with 9:14 to go in regulation. But Rhody opened up their lead to seven again as Cothran converted a lay-up to cap off a 7-0 Rhody run.

The Flyers once again got back into the game and tied it at 72 with 4:10 to go

Rhody appeared to be pulling away as they led 78-73 with just over a minute and a half to play, but Dayton guards Mickey Perry and London Warren tied the game up with a three-pointer and a lay-up respectively. Rhody had one last play after a timeout with 19 seconds to go, but Baron turned the ball over and time expired sending the game into overtime.

Both teams went at each other as both the score was tied and the lead changed six times. Down 88-86 with 1:29 remaining in the extra session, Baron hit a huge three-pointer from the corner as Seawright somehow managed to get the ball to him.

"Kahiem made that play happen," Jimmy Baron said. "He kept battling for the ball, kept it alive and it just so happened to come in my hands in the corner. Tough shot, but we're in the Ryan Center, so I'm very comfortable taking the shot and it went down."

Baron's three-pointer put the Rams back in front 89-88 with 1:05 left. After a missed three-pointer by Perry, Cothran converted a lay-up to put Rhody in front by three. But Dayton came back once again as Marcus Johnson nailed a three with 12 seconds remaining.

Coach Jim Baron let the Rams play out the final 12 seconds on their own as Jones brought the ball up.

Jones hesitated as time was winding down, then made a final push to the basket as he went up and spun around for a lay-up. The Ryan Center erupted as the crowd rushed the floor.

"This is the greatest moment I've ever had at URI," Jimmy Baron said. "You only dream of these things. The better thing about this one is it was almost a sell-out. It was late in the season and a must-win for us."

The win moves Rhody into third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference behind Xavier and Temple universities.

"I'll tell, you it's a hell of a league," coach Baron said. "You look at the teams that we have and how teams have beaten each other up. We haven't had any bad losses. I think this team really deserves credibility."

The URI community raised $19,000 for the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation this year, bringing the three-year total to $40,000.

Rhody returns to action this Sunday as they travel to Duquesne University.