Matthews Injured, URI Cruises Past Richmond 85-67 for 16th Straight Win

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Matthews Injured, URI Cruises Past Richmond 85-67 for 16th Straight Win

Jared Terrell
University of Rhode Island senior E.C. Matthews injured his knee in the final minute of the first half of the Rams 85-67 win over Richmond on Tuesday night at the Ryan Center.

The win is Rhode Island’s 16th straight and improves them to 21-3 overall and 13-0 in the A-10.

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The streak is tied with Cincinnati for the longest active winning streak in the country. 

Eastern Tennessee State’s winning streak came to an end on Monday night.

Matthews Injury

With 53 seconds to play in the half, Matthews was going for the ball when he got tangled up with Richmond’s Grant Golden and appeared to bang his knee on the court.

Matthews stayed down on the court for a short time before being helped off.

He did not return to the game and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, according to the University.

Earlier this season, Matthews missed nearly six weeks with a broken wrist which he suffered against Nevada. 

16 Straight Wins for URI

After leading by six, 35-29, at the half, the Rams led 44-49 with 14:51 to play after Richmond’s Jacob Gilyard got a three to go.

From that point, URI took control of the game.

Sparked by back-to-back threes from Jared Terrell and Fatts Russel, Rhode Island went on a 13-1 run to take a 62-45 lead with 11:52 to play.

Richmond would not get closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Terrell led the Rams with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the field, while Cyril Langevin followed up with 15 points off the bench.

Russell added 14 points off the bench.

Next up

URI returns to action on Friday, February 16 when they visit St. Bonaventure.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN 2.

URI Rams Basketball 2017-18 Projected Starting Lineup

Guard

E.C. Matthews - Redshirt Senior 

E.C. Matthews returns for his redshirt senior season, now two years removed from ACL surgery. The Rams will need him to regain his form.

Matthews missed a couple of weeks during the preseason with knee tendinitis, but has since returned to practice and did play in URI's "secret scrimmage" against Harvard last week. 

Prior to the start of this season, Matthews was named to the first preseason All-Atlantic 10 team during A-10 Media Day. He is also on the John Wooden Award Watch List. 

Last season, Matthews averaged 15 points per game on 42% shooting from the field. In the A-10 Tournament, Matthews carried the Rams offense scoring 20, 19 and 19 points respectively in the three games to get the Rams the title. 

Guard

Jared Terrell - Senior

Jared Terrell was named to second preseason All-Atlantic 10 team during A-10 Media Day. 

He returns to the Rams after averaging 13 points, three rebounds and one steal per game in 2016-17. 

Terrell will look to build off last season in which he shot 42 % from the field - the highest of his career. 

Guard

Jeff Dowtin - Sophomore

Jeff Dowtin is coming off a freshman season in which he started the final 19 games, including both NCAA Tournament games. 

He averaged six points and two assists in 22 minutes of action per game last season while also recording 17 steals on the year. 

In URI's NCAA Tournament game against Creighton, Dowtin poured in a career-high 23 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field. 

Forward

Andre Berry - Senior 

In two seasons with the Rams, Andre Berry has played in 30 games, but hasn't started any. 

For his career, Berry has averaged 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in an averaged of six minutes per game. 

Center

Cyril Langevine - Sophomore 

Cyril Langevine will make the start at one of the forward positions as the Rams will try to replace Hassan Martin, who they lost to graduation. 

Last season, Langevine played in 35 games and started five games for URI averaging three point, five rebounds, and one block. 

In URI's NCAA game against Oregon, Langevine had a near double-double with nine rebounds and nine points. He also had three steals. 

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