Rams can clinch A-10 title Friday
URI coming off OT road win over La Salle
KINGSTON – URI coach Dan Hurley hasn't had a chance to see how his team responds to losing this season. A positive side effect of his team's 16-game win streak coming to an end was an opportunity to see just how mature some of his younger players are.
Sophomore Jeff Dowtin impressed his head coached by taking a missed free throw to heart. After returning from a loss to St. Bonaventure, he shot free throws by himself well into Saturday morning.
“Showed what our guys are about in general,” Hurley said. “The character – Jeff's a winner. He responded well to what happened Friday night in the Bonaventure game and was able to turn it around. He wanted the ball down the stretch against La Salle.”
Dowtin has only suffered 12 losses in his career at URI so far, and this latest one was a difficult one for the point guard to swallow. With the Rams trailing by a point at SBU, Dowtin – a 73 percent free throw shooter - missed the front end of a 1-and1.
Hence, the late-night free throw session. Dowtin's hard work paid immediate dividends, as he put up a new career-high in points in a win over La Salle. Eleven of his 25 points came from the line, and he hit his last 10 attempts to wrap up a 95-93 overtime win.
“I missed the crucial free throw last game,” Dowtin said. “My teammates really picked me up, told me not to worry. Next game, I came out very aggressive.
“I was in the gym till like 3 o'clock in the morning shooting free throws [the night of the St. Bonaventure loss]. I promised my self I wouldn't put my team in that situation again. That was one of my main goals [against La Salle], making my free throws and I was able to do that.”
“I wasn't here, I didn't see it, I was asleep,” Hurley said of Dowtin's late-night work. “I got those reports the next day. Great to hear. Nowadays, so many players want to blame or complain. We have a group of guys that are responsible, accountable.
“When you're getting text messages from your players at 3 a.m., apologizing for not making the big play, that's when you know you have your culture right.”
Even with Dowtin's career night, the Rams barely escaped Philadelphia with the win over the Explorers. B.J. Johnson put up a monster effort for the opposition, collecting 23 rebounds, one shy of the Atlantic 10 record. He also scored 29 points, but squandered a chance to tie the game at the end of overtime by turning the ball over.
As they have all season, the Rams opted to foul intentionally with a late threepoint lead. The move forced the Bonnies to hit the first and intentionally miss the second. The second free throw caromed off the backboard and barely nicked the front of the rim. Tony Washington reached up and over Cyril Langevine to put in a last-second game-tying layup.
“No, that's just something philosophically that I believe in,” Hurley responded when asked if the close shave has him reconsidering his lategame strategy. “It's risky either way, but for me, we should have executed better on the free-throw blockout.
Been more alert, especially after [the game at] UMass. Game should have ended in regulation. Lot easier to learn from a win than from a loss.”
The bounceback win over La Salle clinched a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title, the first in program history. If the Rams win on Friday against Dayton, they will win the conference outright.
“Coach has been preaching, we don't want to share the title, we want to just have it for ourselves,” Dowtin said. “We need to come out and get this win.”
“We talked about it, put-
ting another banner up,” Hurley said. “This is a group that's won rings, put up banners. They have a chance to do it again.
“By ourselves, we don't want to share a championship with anybody.”
There will be no contenders for the throne remaining if URI takes care of business on Friday against Dayton. The Flyers have struggled in Anthony Grant's first season as head coach, currently holding a 7-8 mark in league play. The team won at least 10 conference games in each of Archie Miller's final four seasons at the helm.
“The transition – with
Archie having older players – and now they're predominantly a young team, it's tough,” Hurley said. “We've all been through that. I don't shed a whole lot of tears. It's a process, Anthony is an outstanding coach who's
had an amazing career. He'll have Dayton back to Dayton's level sooner rather than later.”