Rams win again in comeback
URI men remain perfect in Atlantic-10 play
KINGSTON — When Dan Hurley and Stan Robinson met during the offseason to hammer out the rising senior’s role on this season’s team, the edict from Hurley was clear: Robinson would have to focus more on playing defense and doing the little things than being the type of high-volume scorer he had become in the final games of last season.
Robinson was on the court for the final possession of a tie game game against Duquesne on Saturday, and – perhaps because of his willingness to adapt to his new role – was left all alone in the corner. Jeff Dowtin drove the lane and passed it off, and Robinson showed that his offensive skills haven’t rusted, nailing the buzzer-beater in front of a sold-out Ryan Center crowd.
“All I was thinking was to cut to the baseline,” on the final play, he said. “That was how the play was designed. Too many people were in the paint, so I faded back and Jeff found me.
“People think I’m just a defensive player. They stopped playing me, and I’m open.”
The 3-pointer was only his third made shot of the game, but it rescued the No. 24 Rams from what would have been a dispiriting loss. Instead, they have now won 12 straight and are 9-0 in the Atlantic 10, thanks to the 61-58 win.
The Rams needed the late drama due to a stagnant start. They trailed by six at halftime, and by as many as 15 in the second half. Jared Terrell missed his first seven field goal attempts, and the team missed their first seven 3-pointers.
“We didn’t have our best today,” Hurley said. “Part of that was Duquesne and Keith Dambrot, what he’s instilled in that program. They’re a team that believes they’re supposed to win.
“One of the few teams we’ll play all year that plays as hard as we do.”
E.C. Matthews came to life in the final 10 minutes, erasing the frustration on the offensive end for him and his teammates. He scored nine straight points in less than two minutes, turning what had been a double-digit deficit into a tie game.
“E.C. Matthews in the second half took over,” Hurley said. “He put a Superman cape on and made huge shots. That’s the sign of a clutch player, being able to get field goals the last eight minutes of a tight game.”
“Just needed one [shot] to go in,” Matthew said. “My teammates and Coach Hurley kept telling me to shoot. We knew we were going to win the game. We have a lot of senior leaders and just found a way to win.”
Fourteen of Matthews’ gamehigh 20 points came in that eight-minute stretch. The Rams were in dire straits before Matthews switched on, as the Dukes scored the first nine points coming out of the lockerrom.
“Today, we were too much paint-touch and shoot throughout the game,” Hurley said. “We didn’t share the ball and we’re going to look bad on offense when we do that.”
Terrell – who had been the poster boy for efficiency and consistency up to this point – had his worst game of the season. After missing his first sev- en shots, he finished 4-for-16 from the floor with four turnovers. While the Rams leading scorer looked lost, Ren Castro-Caneddy was picking apart the Rhody defense with ease.
The senior guard displayed great patience running his team’s sets, and scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Much like Fordham did last year against URI in an upset win, the Dukes slowed down the pace of play and attempted to turn the game into a rock-fight.
“We were still able to force 19 turnovers,” Hurley said. “They’re one of the most methodical teams in terms of length of possession. Before they get to their scoring action, there’s a lot of false things happening. They wanted to grind this game out.”
The Dukes hold the ball on offense for an average of 18.8 seconds per possession, which ranks 317th in the country. There were a total of 64 possessions on Saturday, which is tied for the slowest game the Dukes have played all season.
Jarvis Garrett came bounding off the bench to help speed up the game and break the Rams out of their rut. Garrett pushed the ball in transition and had eight points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
“Jarvis made a huge difference in the second half, with the way he guarded the ball,” Hurley said. “Along with Fatts [Russell], they changed the energy of the game.”
Following the Dukes’ largest lead of the game, Garrett hit a long jumper to get a 13-2 Rams run going. Russell got out on the break to score his only two points on the day, and Terrell hit the team’s first 3-pointer, more than 25 minutes into the game.
The team effort gave way to a Matthews one-man show on offense. He hit one 3-pointer on the solo run, but almost all of the points he scored in the second half came on aggressive drives to the basket.
Robinson gave URI its first lead of the half on an acrobatic tip-in. That second-chance score made it 51-49 URI, and they would build the lead all the way out to six points, five of which came from the hot hand of Matthews.
The Dukes answered back by rattling off six straight points as the clock ticked under two minutes, re-tying the game. URI got the ball with just under 30 seconds remaining, allowing Dowtin to dribble the ball out for the last shot.
The Dukes pressured the sophomore guard as the clock hit single-digits, but he somehow escaped from the double-team and found Robinson in the corner. Dowtin finished the game with six assists, six points and no turnovers.
“I wanted to get the ball to our best decision maker, which is Jeff,” Hurley said. “Wanted him to make a good basketball play. Stan has a flair for the dramatic.”
“I was just looking at [Robinson], in surprise,” Matthews said of his reaction. “I had a good angle, knew it was going in. I was just happy we won.”
With their win streak and national ranking getting a lot of attention, Hurley saw Saturday’s near-miss as a warning sign to his team.
“We’ve been in fantasy-land,” he said. “Seven of our eight conference games didn’t necessarily feel like brutal, possession conference games. Besides St. Louis on the road, this was the first time we had to play down the stretch. This was more typical of a conference game.
“We’re not always going to be able to separate ourselves and win comfortably like we’ve been winning. We have a huge target us on.”
That target will take a trip up to Amherst on Tuesday. The Rams look to move to 10-0 in A-10 play when they take on UMass, 7:00 p.m. tip.