Rams Fall To UMass In Finale
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Another close, tough game. Another loss for URI.
The pattern that seemed to be a recurring theme all season long played itself out once again Saturday at the Ryan Center as the Rams fell to UMass 75-66 in their final game of the 2012-2013 season.
URI was in it most of the way but could not get over the hump for the win.
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“I thought the game was very typical of the way the season has gone for us,” said Rams coach Dan Hurley. “We played well enough to be in the game late.”
Once again, however, Hurley admitted that Rhody’s inability to rebound (UMass enjoyed a 40-26 advantage on the glass) and make free throws (URI went 11-19) hurt his team’s chances.
The loss finishes the season for URI which will not take part in the A-10 Tournament this week in Brooklyn. The Rams finished (8-21) overall and (3-13) in the Atlantic Ten in Hurley’s first season at the helm. However, the coach believes that better days are ahead for his program.
“I look at it like we have a major responsibility here to make this a great, great program,” he said. “I view us as an important program in this league moving forward.”
It’s hard to argue with Hurley given the transfers and ineligible players he has had sitting out this year and with the solid recruiting class he has put together for next season.
NOTES:
-It was “Senior Day” at URI where Nikola Malesevic, Ryan Brooks and Andre Malone were honored before the game. Malone went out by scoring a career-best 19 points while Melesevic netted 11 in his final game. Brooks managed to score 2 points in 11 minutes of action.
-As has been the case for most of the season, Xavier Munford led the Rams in scoring with 21 points (8-16 FG).
-With Xavier’s loss to Butler, UMass (19-10, 9-7) finishes as the 6th seed in the A-10 Tourney and will take on 11th-seeded George Washington in opening round action of the A-10 Tourney.
-Ironically, one of URI’s three conference wins came against the regular season A-10 Champs at St. Louis.
