Rams Roll Pace, Win Season Opener 94-54
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Rams Roll Pace, Win Season Opener 94-54
For the Rams, sophomore, Hassan Martin, led the way with 21 points while senior, Gilvydas Biruta, pulled down eleven rebounds. Junior, Biggie Minis, added four assists in the Rams win. Bob Cousy Award nominee E.C. Matthews had 14 points in the game to help lead the Rams offense.
It was an impressive performance for freshman, Jared Terrell, who started the game for URI. Terrell posted 11 points, three assists, one block and three steals in his first collegiate game, playing 21 minutes.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe difference in this game was the turnovers and the points that came off of them. Pace turned the ball over 17 times in the game resulting in 25 URI points, meanwhile, the Rams turned the ball over 11 times resulting in only two points for the Setters.
URI's next game is on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against UMass Lowell. Click here for tickets.
URI Rams 2014-2015 Projected Starting Lineup
Guard- E.C. Matthews
Sophomore E.C. Matthews will lead the Rams back court and scoring this season after having a great freshman year. The 6'5" Matthews averaged 15.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Rams last season and since January of 2014, he has had seven games where he has scored at least 20 points.
Matthews was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list earlier in the preseason, signifying that he is already one of the best guards in the country.
Guard- Jared Terrell
One of the players to watch for off the bench is 6'3" freshman Jared Terrell who is ranked as one of of the top prospects in America. In high school, at Brewster Academy, Terrell averaged 14.5 points and five rebounds per game. Terell chose URI over several other high level D-I schools, including the rival Providence Friars.
Guard- Biggie Minnis
Biggie Minnis, a 6'3" junior, will be the third guard in the rotation for the Rams this season. Minnis appeared in 21 games last season for the Rams and started in 11 games. He missed eight games due to injury.
In the games he played, Minnis averaged just under five points per game and shot over 50% from the floor. If he can stay healthy, the Rams will be looking forward to more of that.
Forward- Gilvydas Biruta
6'8" Senior Gilvydas Biruta is coming off a year where he was one of the team captains and averaged just over 10 points per game and shot 67% from the floor. Biruta was also a force on the boards pulling down an average of seven rebounds per game for Rhode Island.
URI will look for him to take the next step this year as he helps lead the Rams through the season.
Forward- Hassan Martin
Sophomore Forward Hassan Martin was a first year presence for the Rams last season. The Staten Island bred big man averaged over 6 points and 5 rebounds per game in his freshman season, while also adding 2.5 blocks per game. Along with Biruta, Martin anchor a Rams defense that looks very promising.
The Rams could be in very good shape this season if Martin is able to take big steps towards improving his offensive game.
6th man- T.J. Buchanan
Senior guard T.J. Buchanan was the first man off the bench for the Rams last season. In that role, the 6'4" Buchanan averaged just under six points per game and had a field goal percentage of 65 for the season. Buchanan will look to add to those numbers in the same role this season.
Buchanan will also bring some much needed veteran leadership off the bench.
