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Men's Basketball
Bonnies fall short to Rhode Island, 71-66
Jan. 14, 2006
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Rhode Island made key plays in the final two minutes and edged St. Bonaventure, 71-66, on Saturday night at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies (6-9) fell to 0-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference while Rhode Island (8-6), which won at the Reilly Center for the first time since 1999, improved to 2-1 in the A-10. Rhode Island trailed for most of the game but used a 17-4 run over a 6:27 stretch in the second half to take a 59-51 lead with 8:35 left. With 6:34 remaining, Tyler Relph drained a long three-pointer to pull St. Bonaventure within 59-55. A free-throw by freshman guard A.J. Hawkins and a dunk by junior center Paul Williams made it 59-58 with 5:36 remaining, and then the Bonnies regained the lead at 62-61 when sophomore forward Michael Lee took a pass from Relph and drove for a lay-in with 3:34 in the contest. Freshman guard Jimmy Baron, the son of URI's coach, hit a fade-away jumper in the lane to put Rhode Island up 63-62 with 3:01 on the clock. After Jamaal Wise's free-throw made it a 64-62 Rams lead, a hook shot by Lee tied the game at 64. A short jumper by Baron gave the Rams back the lead at 66-64 with 1:59 remaining. After a Bonnies turnover, Will Daniels drove the left baseline and made it 68-64 with 1:22 to go. Bonnies' all-conference senior guard Ahmad Smith had his shot blocked by Kareem Seawright and then Jamaal Wise sealed the win with a put-back with 17 seconds left. "We played hard and gave a great effort tonight, but Rhode Island made key plays on both ends the floor late in the game," said Bonnies coach Anthony Solomon, whose team lost its second straight home game. "This is a disappointing loss. Our young men played very hard."
The Bonnies started the night well and led by as many as nine points with 6:50 remaining in the first half. A last-second tip-in pulled the Rams to within 37-33 at halftime. Back-to-back Rhode Island scores tied the game at 37-37 just 13 seconds into the second half. Rhode Island took its first lead of the game, 48-47, on consecutive three-point buckets by Baron. Williams led St. Bonaventure with a career high 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Smith added 16 points and four assists, and Lee chipped in 10 points. Wise led Rhode Island with 15 points while Baron added 14. Rebounding was a key as the Rams held a 34-28 edge overall. Rhode Island collected 10 offensive rebounds to only five for the Bonnies. Rhode Island also went to a zone defense and limited St. Bonaventure to 10 field goals in the second half. The Bonnies shot 45 percent overall but just 4-19 (21 percent) from three-point range. "We have to improve our offensive efficiency against the zone," Solomon said. "It's kind of been our Achilles heel all season. That goes for me as a coach as well our players." The Bonnies are off until next Saturday, Jan. 21, when they will visit Fordham.
GAME NOTES
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