Web Exclusive! ARusso's A-10 Jive

02/26/09 - Every win is a big win, but some wins are undeniably bigger than others.Last night's win for URI over the Dayton University Flyers can be classified as enormous.

Dayton came into the Ryan Center as the second place team in the Atlantic 10 with a 9-3-conference record and an overall mark of 23-4. The team left the Ryan Center with the image of hundreds of pink-clad Rhody fans storming the court and its third consecutive road loss.

Now Rhode Island is sitting at third place in the A-10, only one game behind nationally ranked Xavier University and a half game behind second place Temple University.

The Rams got the high profile win that they needed and are now in great position to get a bye for the A-10 tournament with only two games left to play.

Last night's victory also put Rhody on the bubble of the Big Dance, but you certainly will not hear that from them.

"No, I have no idea what that is," Jimmy Baron said after the game in response to a question about a possible NCAA Tournament bid, "All I know is that we got Duquesne," he said.

Jimmy stressed that the team will only focus on one game at a time, learning from last year's mistakes.

Last year's Rams had success early in the season, but fell apart in conference play. This year, the team is finding success at just the right time.

URI has now won its last five games and nine of its last 10. The Rams, who were picked to finish ninth in the conference in the preseason, now have an A-10 record of 10-4 and are 21-8 overall. They will visit a good Duquesne University team next and then host the University of Massachusetts Minutemen for the last regular season game of the year.

The UMass game will mark the last game at the Ryan Center for Baron and fellow seniors Kahiem Seawright and Jason Francis. All three seniors stepped up against Dayton and led their squad to the biggest win of the year.

"The senior leadership has been tremendous," head coach Jim Baron said, speaking of his three seniors. "They show up, they have great passion, great desire, and they believe."

They certainly gave the Rhody faithful something to believe in last night. Time after time the guys in white came through in the clutch. From Seawright taking the ball hard to the basket with four fouls in overtime, to Baron hitting the shot of his life from the corner with 1:04 remaining to give the Rams a one point lead, the seniors showed why they believe down the stretch.

The seniors did not do it all themselves though, juniors Delroy James and Keith Cothran scored 18 and 19 points respectively coming off the bench, and sophomore point guard Marquis Jones had one of his best games as a Ram. Jones hit five of his six field goal attempts, including two of three from beyond the arc. And, of course, he made the final lay-up as time expired in overtime to give URI the two-point win.

That final play by Jones was a textbook hold your breath and don't blink play that will not be forgotten any time soon. After Dayton tied the game at 91 with 13.5 seconds left in the extra period, the Rams had one last chance to end it before going to double overtime.

Jones had the ball at the top of the key with just seconds left, thought about passing, but found enough space to get to the hoop and put up a soft lay-up as the entire crowd counted the seconds.

The ball hit the glass then hung on the rim for what seemed like an eternity. Jimmy Baron joked after the game that the rims at the Ryan Center might be made of tin foil, because that ball stuck there forever.

Eventually, the buzzer sounded, the backboard turned red, and the ball fell through the hoop. The noise inside the Ryan Center was deafening as the fans rushed the court to celebrate with the team.

According to Jimmy Baron, that was his greatest moment at URI. However, Baron knows that while celebrating the victory is great, the season is not over yet.