URI Runs Past Saint Joe's 78-68 in Final Home Game
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URI Runs Past Saint Joe's 78-68 in Final Home Game
See the five takeaways slideshow below
URI trailed Saint Joe's 42-37 with 19 minutes left in the game before five straight points by Gilvydas Biruta sparked the Rams to an 11-0 run to go up 48-42 with 15 minutes to play.
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Rhode Island was led by Gilvydas Biruta who poured in 18 points in his final home game while E.C. Matthews added 17 to help lead the URI comeback.
St. Joe's was led by DeAndre' Bembry who netted a game high 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists.
URI now heads to Brooklyn for the A-10 tournament. The Rams first game will be Friday, March 13 at 9 p.m.
For a further look at the Rams win, see the five takeaways slideshow below.
Five Takeaways From URI's 78-68 Win Over Saint Joe's
T.J. Buchanan
Senior T.J. Buchanan got the start in his final home game as a URI Ram and netted 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
Buchanan also pulled down three rebounds and dished out three assists in 30 minutes of play time.
E.C. Matthews
E.C. Matthews netted 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw field.
Matthews has reached double figures in six straight games heading into the A-10 tournament.
Matthews also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, recorded one steal and had one block.
Gilvydas Biruta
Senior Gilvydas Biruta led URI with a season high 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Biruta sparked URI early in the second half when the Rams trailed 42-37, Biruta scored five straight points, sparking an 11-0 URI run to take a 48-42 lead. The Rams would never trail after that.
Biruta has reached double figures in two of the last three games for URI, a good sign as the A-10 tournament approaches.
Biruta also grabbed five rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end, and recorded two steals in the game.
Second chance points
The Rams out rebounded St. Joes 32-29 overall, including 9-3 on the offensive glass.
Gilvydas Biruta led URI with four offensive rebounds in the game.
Off of those nine offensive boards, URI used them to help post 13 second chance points.
Saint Joe's grabbed three offensive rebounds and cashed in for five second chance points.
Turnovers/points off
Jared Terrell and Gilvydas Biruta led URI with two steals each as the Rams forced St. Joseph's into 16 turnovers while URI only turned the ball over a season low eight times.
Off of St. Joe's 16 turnovers, the Rams cashed in for 27 points on the offensive end.
Meanwhile, St. Joe's cashed in for 12 points off of the eight URI turnovers.
URI won the turnover battle 8-16 and the points off turnover battle 27-12
