#18 URI Clinches A-10 Regular Season Title With 81-56 Win Over Dayton
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#18 URI Clinches A-10 Regular Season Title With 81-56 Win Over Dayton
URI be the number one seed heading into the A-10 Tournament in Washington D.C.
The Rams improve to 23-4 on the season and 15-1 in conference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDayton falls to 13-14 overall and 7-8 in the A-10.
URI Breaks it Open in 2nd Half
After holding a two-point lead, 36-34, at the half the Rams held a 39-38 lead with 18 minutes to play before breaking the game open.
Sparked by three straight points from Jeff Dowtin and a layup by E.C. Matthews, the Rams went on an 18-4 run capped off by a Matthews three with 13:19 left to play to take a 57-42 lead.
Rhode Island outscored Dayton 45-22 in the second half, and forced the Flyers into 22 turnovers in the game.
URI was led by Jeff Dowtin, who poured in 20 points, while Matthews and Jared Terrell followed up by 18 and 17 points respectively.
Next Up
The Rams return to action on Tuesday, February 27 when they host Saint Joseph’s at the Ryan Center.
It will be URI’s last home game of the season.
Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Rhode Island's last regular season game is Friday, March 2 at Davidson.
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.
