Rams Outlast Bears 59-47
Saturday, January 05, 2013
In what amounted to an old-fashioned rock fight Friday night at the Ryan Center, the URI Rams proved to be too much for the Brown Bears on the hardwood. The Rams stingy defense wore the undermanned Bears down on their way to a 59-47 victory.
The Bears also brought it defensively, particularly in the first half. Senior guard Matt Sullivan (14 points) shut down Rhody’s leading scorer Xavier Munford (18 points) holding him to just 4 points in the game’s opening 20 minutes.
Rhode Island led at the break 21-14.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut the Rams’ constant pressure defensively seemed to wear Brown down allowing Rhody to open up as much as an 18-point lead on their way to the win.
Sophomore Mike Powell scored 16 points and dished out 6 assists for URI while Andre Malone chipped in with 12 points. Nikola Malesevic was held scoreless and went 0-9 from the field before fouling out of the game late.
Brown was led by Sullivan’s 14 points. Junior Sean McGonagill had 10. Sophomore forward Rafael Maia had 8 points and a career-best 15 rebounds in the loss.
The Bears struggles from the free throw line continued Friday night. Brown entered the game shooting just 62% from the stripe and went 11-21 (52%).
The win lifts Rhody’s record to (5-8) while the Bears fall to (4-8).
URI opens up Atlantic Ten play on the 9th at Richmond while Brown returns to action Tuesday night at home against Niagra.
