URI Blown Out by Dayton 75-59, Fall Out of 1st Place
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URI Blown Out by Dayton 75-59, Fall Out of 1st Place
See the five takeaways slideshow below.
URI led 20-18 with nine minutes left to play in the half before the Dayton Flyers closed the period on an 18-8 run to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Flyers opened the second half on a 7-2 run to go up 43-30 after a Kendall Pollard free throw with 16 minutes left to play.
URI cut their deficit to six points, 49-43, after a Biggie Minnis layup with 11 minutes left but URI would not get any closer the rest of the way.
E.C. Matthews led URI with 18 points while Hassan Martin followed up with 14 of his own.
Dayton was led by Jordan Sibert who poured in a game high 21 while Dyshawn Pierre netted 19 points to help keep the Flyers in first place.
The Rams return home on Saturday when they host St. Joseph's in the final home game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
For a further look at the URI loss, see the five takeaways slideshow below.
Five Takeaways From URI's 75-59 Loss to Dayton
Biruta
Gilvydas Biruta played 19 minutes, went 0-for-2 from the field, netting one point in the game, Biruta grabbed four rebounds and had three assists as well.
However, on the defensive end, there were times in the game where he was just getting dominated down low by Pollard and or Pierre.
The Rams defense in general was not great in this game, Dayton shot 57% from the field.
Hassan Martin
Hassan Martin netted 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to help the Rams out.
Martin also added an impressive six blocked shots in the game.
However, Hassan Martin only grabbed four rebounds and only one of which came in the first half when it was a close game.
After his 16 rebound performance against Davidson, Martin has only grabbed four rebounds in each of the last two games.
Dayton held a slight edge in rebounds, beating URI 26-24.
E.C. Matthews
E.C. Matthews led the Rams with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists in the game.
Matthews 18 points came on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from the free throw line.
However, Matthews turned the ball over four times, while as a team the Rams only turned the ball over 11.
Dayton had 11 points off of Rams turnovers.
E.C. Matthews has had 16 games this season in which he has turned the ball over at least four times.
What this means
This was a huge game for the Rams if they won it on the road against a Dayton team that is right now projected as a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament.
However, the loss makes it pretty simple now for the Rams, they now have to win the A-10 tournament and maybe getting to the finals will still get them in, depending on what other teams do and who the Rams beat on their way there.
Free throws
URI got to the free throw line 23 times in the game but only made 12 of their free throws, giving away 11 points. The Rams shot 52% from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, Dayton went 24-of-31 from the line, 77%, en route to a win.
The Rams lost to Davidson two games ago when they missed 17 free throws on home court.
Free throw shooting has to be a concern as tournament time approaches.
