URI Improves to 8-4 With Win Over Canisius

URI Improves to 8-4 With Win Over Canisius

University of Rhode Island men’s basketball guard Jonah Hinton scored a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while teammates Tyler Cochran and Myles Corey added 12 points apiece to help lead the host Rams to a 62-45 victory over Canisius in non-conference men's basketball action Tuesday night at the Ryan Center in Kingston.

The win ended Rhode Island's two-game losing skid and improved the team to 8-4 on the season, while the Golden Griffins fell to 5-7 on the year with the loss.

For Canisius, junior Bryan Ndjonga scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while fellow junior Anthony Benard came off the bench to contribute 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. Senior King Ijeoma added eight points, four boards, two steals and two blocked shots, as the Griffs shot just 31.9 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from 3-point land and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line, while turning the ball over 19 times.

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The Canisius defense held Rhode Island to just 6-of-29 from the field and 3-for-18 from 3-point land in the game's opening 20:00 to take a 27-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. After Rhode Island scored the first five points of the second half to knot the score at 27-27, Ndjonga drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the Griffs back into the lead at 30-27. However, from there, the Rams' offense started to click, as Cochran, Hinton and Corey combined to make four-straight 3-pointers to push the home team into the lead at 39-32 with 13:21 left to play in the contest.

A traditional three-point play from Jahmere Tripp with 11:44 left on the clock pushed the Rams' lead to 14 at 46-32, but four-straight points from Ndjonga trimmed Rhode Island's lead to 10 at 46-36 with 10:23 left to play. A 3-point make by Benard with 5:11 left on the clock got Canisius within nine points at 52-43, but that would be as close as the Griffs would get down the stretch, as Rhode Island used a 10-0 run over the game's next 2:36 to push its cushion to 62-43 with 1:51 remaining.

Rhode Island shot 46.9 percent from the field in the game's second half, and six of the Rams' 15 made field goals after halftime came from behind the 3-point line. Rhode Island also took advantage of Canisius' 19 turnovers by converting them into 21 points, 14 of which came after halftime.

 

DATA

• Over its last three games, Rhode Island has turned the ball over 51 times, an average of 17.0 per game.
• Last time out, the Rams had a season-high 21 turnovers in a loss to McNeese.
• In the first eight games of the season, Rhody had 93 turnovers, or 11.6 per game.
• This has led to URI being outscored 58-40 in points off turnovers during the stretch.
• Rhode Island is 248th in the country with 13.1 turnovers per game.
• Tuesday was the fifth all-time meeting between Canisius and Rhode Island, and the first since the 1983-84 season opener. Rhode Island now leads the all-time series, 3-2.
• Canisius recorded eight steals in the losing effort, and all eight came in the game's first half.