Rams Earn Conference Opening Win, Down St. Louis 65-53
GoLocalProv Sports Team
Rams Earn Conference Opening Win, Down St. Louis 65-53
See the five takeaways slideshow below.
Rhode Island trailed 37-32 with early in the second half but then went on a 13-0 run sparked by a Gilvydas Biruta jump shot, a Biggie Minnis layup and then a dunk by E.C. Matthews to go up 45-37 with 11 minutes left. Saint Louis would get as close as three, 45-42, with eight minutes left in the game but could never get over the hump.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Rams were led for the second straight game by Hassan Martin. Martin netted 15 points on six of ten shooting from the field and also pulled down eight rebounds and blocked four shots. Biruta followed up with 14 points of his own helping the Rams snap a seven game losing streak in A-10 openers.
Milik Yarbrough led St. Louis with 19 points in the game while also pulling down eight rebounds.
URI returns to action on Wednesday, January 7 when they host Fordham at The Ryan Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
For more on the URI win over Saint Louis, see the five takeaways slideshow below. .
Five Takeaways From The Rams 65-53 Win Over Saint Louis
Jared Terrell
Jared Terrell running into a bit of a freshman wall as conference play approaches?
After reaching double figures in seven of his first nine games, Terrell has now been in single digits in three straight. Four points, eight points and three points respectively in the last three.
With that said, Terrell is still productive in other areas. Three steals against Saint Louis, five rebounds against Brown and a couple of assists in each game.
Just the scoring has dropped off a bit.
E.C. Matthews
E.C. Matthews has been able to put it in cruise control over the last couple of games for the Rams because of the play of Hassan Martin and Biggie Minnis.
Matthews had 12 points on 4 of 14 shooting from the field, he also pulled down five rebounds and dished out two assists.
Matthews has been in double figures in 10 of the 12 URI games this season.
Only negative in Saturday's game was the four turnovers he committed, which led the team.
Hassan Martin
How about Hassan Martin's dayt? Martin led the Rams in scoring for the second consecutive game with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field and pulled down eight rebounds.
Martin was a force on the defensive end of he floor as well, blocking four shots.
Martin has been in double figures in six of the last seven games for the Rhode Island and has taken some of the pressure off of E.C. Matthews.
Biggie Minnis
Biggie Minnis had another solid showing for URI, netting ten points on 4 of 9 shooting from the field and dishing out four assists and picking up two steals.
Minnis has now been in double figures in two straight games and also has led the team in assists in two straight games after not reaching double figures at all in the previous 10 games.
Minnis is trending upward, a good sign for the Rams.
Turnovers
The Rams forced Saint Louis into 21 turnovers, 13 of them on steals. Jarvis Garrett led URI with four steals in the game while Jared Terrell followed up with three.
The Rams converted for 30 points off of Saint Louis turnovers.
Meanwhile, URI turned the ball over 14 times and Saint Louis converted for 16 points.
