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March 31, 2010 | AP Press

NEW YORK – North Carolina wrapped up last season by cutting down the nets during a championship celebration, and the goal all along has been to do it again this year.

The Tar Heels will have their chance Thursday night, under much different circumstances.

Deon Thompson had 16 points and 13 rebounds, helping North Carolina survive a frantic final few seconds and defeat Rhode Island 68-67 in overtime Thursday night in the NIT semifinals.

Will Graves added 14 points and Tyler Zeller had 13 for the Tar Heels (20-16), who will try to make bittersweet history against Dayton by becoming the first school to follow a national title with an NIT championship at Madison Square Garden.

“We enjoyed playing the last Monday night last year, and you know, we play the last Thursday night this year,” coach Roy Williams said. “Playing the last Monday night is better, there’s no question about that. But I do believe that if you’re playing — if they keep playing until there’s only one team standing — it’s very important to be that one team.”

The Tar Heels have played with a sense of desperation during the NIT, almost as if they have a chip on their shoulder, and that was borne out when they scored the final five points of regulation to force overtime.

In the extra session, North Carolina had possession with about 5 seconds left and the shot clock about to expire when Larry Drew II forced up a shot. The rebound eventually wound up in the hands of Rhode Island’s Lamonte Ulmer, who lost control of the ball as he rushed up court moments before the buzzer sounded, never coming close to getting off a shot.

Rhode Island coach Jim Baron thought he had been tripped and a foul should have been called, an opinion that North Carolina coach Roy Williams readily supported.

“We got the rebound and we were aiming to push it down the other end,” Baron said. “I thought there was some contact and he tripped.”

Ulmer finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Rhode Island (26-10), which was trying to reach the NIT championship game for the first time since the 1945-46 season. Keith Cothran scored 23 points and Delroy James finished with 13.

“Those guys played with a tremendous amount of heart,” Baron said. “That’s why I told them how proud I was, they put it all out there.”

The final seconds of overtime mirrored a frenetic end to regulation.

The game was tied 59-all when James missed two free throws with 28.6 seconds left. North Carolina tracked down the rebound and, after a timeout, Drew allowed the shot clock to run down to 6 seconds before taking a closely guarded 3-pointer that never had a chance.

“One of the players said in the locker room, ‘Sometimes it helps to win ugly,’” Williams said, “and we did win ugly today.”

Defense played a big part in it.

The Tar Heels ended up with 27 offensive rebounds and 60 total, compared to 45 for the Rams. Rhode Island also turned the ball over 18 times, including that critical miscue with the seconds ticking down in overtime.

“We didn’t execute very well and you hate to end the game like that in such an ugly way,” Drew said, “but sometimes that’s how it is in the game of basketball.”

It sure was a strange sight to see North Carolina, the bluest of the bluebloods, playing on a Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden — especially when the most important games are being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Injuries and inexperience combined to send the Tar Heels’ season spiraling out of control, and they didn’t recover until their chances of making the NCAA tournament — and defending the title they earned by beating Michigan State last March — had disappeared entirely.

Relegated to playing in a tournament for also-rans, the Tar Heels went on the road to defeat Mississippi State and Alabama-Birmingham before knocking off a Rhode Island team that had the best RPI of any program that failed to make the NCAA tournament.

The season still ended up being a success for Rhode Island, which could have matched the school record for wins in a season had it won the NIT championship.

The Rams’ faithful certainly turned out in droves for the semifinals, easily outnumbering the Tar Heels fans clad in baby blue. They kept cheering until the final turnover in overtime, imploring a veteran team for one more night in the spotlight.

Instead, it will be North Carolina playing for yet another championship.

Even if it’s not what anybody expected.

“You know, I have a great appreciation of this tournament, I have a great appreciation of the tradition, the history of the NIT,” Williams said. “If you win this tournament, you have to feel good about it.”

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March 24, 2010 | AP Press

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Delroy James and the Rhode Island Rams are ready to hit Manhattan.

James scored 18 points and Lamonte Ulmer added 13, including a big basket in the final seconds, to lead Rhode Island past Virginia Tech 79-72 in an NIT quarterfinal Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Rams (26-9) advanced to the NIT semifinals for the first time since 1946. They’ll play 2009 national champion North Carolina on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m just so excited for our players and everyone involved,” Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said. “You know, you’re right there on the bubble of the NCAA tournament and you beat a Big Ten team and a Western Athletic Conference and then an ACC team. Our kids showed a tremendous amount of will power to sustain and I’m really happy for them. This is a great win for us and our program.”

The Rams beat Northwestern in the first round and Nevada in the second round.

No. 1 seed Virginia Tech (25-9) led 60-48 following Malcolm Delaney’s two free throws with 14:43 left that capped an 18-8 run to start the second half. But the Rams answered with a 13-0 spurt and took a 61-60 lead with 11:05 remaining on a basket by Ulmer.

“We’ve had different guys step up on different nights and help us win,” Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. “But we just didn’t do those things that we normally do. I don’t know if it was the stage or if it was pressure. There are so many factors that go into it. I’m just real disappointed.”

Rhode Island took the lead for good at 73-71 on a jumper by Keith Cothran with 2 minutes left. Virginia Tech had a chance to tie, but James got a piece of J.T. Thompson’s layup attempt with 46 seconds to go and grabbed the rebound.

The Rams then spread the court, and with the shot clock running down, Ulmer rebounded his own miss and laid it in with 10.6 seconds remaining.

“We were isolating and he was just real aggressive,” Baron said. “He attacked the bucket, and the funny part about it was I told the guys in practice that they were going to have to use the rim as a protector by going up and under. Sure enough, Lamonte made a great play by going up and under.”

Delaney hit one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to cut it to 75-72. But the Rams made all four of their free throws the rest of the way to seal it.

James, who scored a career-high 34 points in Rhode Island’s second-round win over Nevada, shot 7 of 18 from the floor. He also blocked four shots and grabbed six rebounds.

Delaney had 24 points for the Hokies, who lost in the NIT quarterfinals for the third straight year. Dorenzo Hudson added 19.

The Hokies, who fell one victory short of setting the school’s single-season record, shot better from the floor than the Rams, hitting 48.1 percent (26 of 54) compared to 46.7 percent (28 of 60). But Tech made only two of its final 17 shots.

“We weren’t as poised as well as we had been down the stretch,” Greenberg said. “As well as we executed the other night against Connecticut, we didn’t down the stretch tonight.”

March 22, 2010 | AP Press

KINGSTON, R.I. – Delroy James has established a reputation for being one of the Atlantic 10’s top offensive players.

The Rhode Island star was back at it on Monday night and also turned on the defense Monday night, helping the Rams beat Nevada 85-83 in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

James scored a career-high 34 points and locked up Luke Babbitt, Nevada’s leading scorer and the WAC player of the year.

“They were able to match up with Babbitt, athletically,” Nevada coach Dave Carter said. “I thought they contested his shots and made it very difficult for him to score.”

Babbitt entered as the eighth-leading scorer in the country with a 22.1 average, but finished with 14 points. He connected on only two of 14 shots — both in the second half — and scored 10 points at the free-throw line.

“He missed some easy ones that he normally would make,” Carter said. “But sometimes when you’re physical and you’re able to contest shots and make guys work for it I think that’s what they did tonight.”

As a result, the Rams (25-9) will play a third-round game Wednesday at Virginia Tech, which eliminated Connecticut 65-63.

Brandon Fields led the Wolf Pack (21-13) with 25 points, while Keith Cothran added 16 for Rhode Island and teammate Lamonte Ulmer grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

“Babbitt is a very good player a top 20 pick,” James said. “I tried to make it a rough night for him. If you play hard on defense, you have to attack on offense.”

James drained one of his five 3-point shots to spark a 24-16 run and give the Rams their largest lead of the first half at 36-26.

Fields then scored seven consecutive points for Nevada to forge a 37-37 tie, but Rhode Island’s Will Martell and Stevie Mejia combined to score five straight points for a 42-37 halftime lead.

James’ layup with 4:49 left in regulation gave Rhode Island a seemingly comfortable 74-64 lead. But the Wolf Pack connected on all 10 of their free-throw attempts down the stretch and Fields drained a 3-point shot with 5.2 seconds left to pull Nevada within 84-83.

Cothran then sank one of two free-throw attempts and Nevada threw the ball away on its ensuing possession. That turnover was the Wolf Pack’s 16th, and Rhode Island capitalized by scoring 23 points off Nevada’s miscues.

Conversely, Rhode Island committed only two turnovers.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game where my team only made two turnovers,” Rams coach Jim Baron said. “That shows we made good decisions.”

March 17, 2010 | AP Press

KINGSTON, R.I. – Akeem Richmond scored 14 of his 16 points during a big first-half run as Rhode Island defeated Northwestern 76-64 on Wednesday night in an NIT opener.

The Rams (24-9) will host a second-round game against Nevada, which beat Wichita State.

“This is our third straight NIT,” Rhode Island’s Will Martel said. “We laid an egg my freshman year. We were up 18 at the half against Creighton and lost (74-73). There’s no way that’s ever going to happen again. That was embarrassing.”

Michael Thompson led the Wildcats (20-14) with 24 points, while Northwestern’s leading scorer, John Shurna, was held to 15 — 3.3 below his season average.

Northwestern led 22-20 when Richmond scored 14 consecutive points for Rhode Island in a span of 3:07 which helped give the Rams a 34-28 lead. Richmond connected on all four of his 3-pointers during the run.

“We know what the NIT is,” Martel said. “We’ve only been to the second round, but we’re experienced. I think we’ve got a good shot [at winning the championship].”

Rhode Island’s Orion Outerbridge converted a three-point play with 1:04 left in the half to give the Rams a 37-30 lead at intermission.

Richmond acknowledged that he relished the chance to play against a zone — Northwestern alternated between a 1-3-1 and a matchup — instead of man-to-man defense.

“I knew I was going to tear that apart,” Richmond said. “I was telling my teammates that before I even got on the court because I could see the gaps in it. I could see where I was going to get open shots.

“My father and coaches have told me how other teams are going to play me for the 3-point shot. They’ve said it’s going to be easy if they run out there and I hit them with a pump fake, that’ll leave me wide open. It’s definitely been working.

Shurna averaged 18.3 points and shot 46.4 percent before the NIT, but coach Jim Baron alternated five players on him within the context of his team’s man-to-man defense.

“Hes very good because he can shoot the ball, he can pass the ball and he can handle the ball,” Baron said. “We just kept throwing different guys at him and they did a great job of being physical and making him work for everything he needed to get.”

The closest Northwestern could get in the second half was 41-39, but Rhode Island went on an 8-0 run to break the game open.

“We don’t want to be in the NIT next year, to tell you the truth,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “We won 17 games last year, 20 this year and we have most of our players back.”

AP Photo

June 13, 2009  by Scott Brand

As a former University of Rhode Island (URI) graduate (1983-1987), I wanted to write an article regarding my 25-year working relationship and friendship with former URI head Men’s Basketball Coach Brendan Malone, who is presently an Orlando Magic assistant coach.

Given the timeliness of Brendan Malone’s current affiliation with the perhaps NBA Championship bound Orlando Magic as an assistant coach, I thought you may be interested in reading an article on him and perhaps my continued friendship with him.  Since my dad’s passing last year, I have rejuvenated my long standing friendship with former URI Coach Brendan Malone. 

He has offered me words of remorse since the passing of my father Hal Brand, who he maintained a pen-pal relationship while coaching the Ram’s in the 80’s. And he has also given me career advice on approaching former boss Isaiah Thomas at FIU for a potential job. But most of all he is just plain fun to talk to just like he was in 1987 with Carlton “Silk” Owns and Gavin Scotti as the up and coming coach of a young but surging team after experiencing a series of bite nailing losses in the last seconds.

“We won ugly,” said Malone, after the Magic defeated the Celtics to force a Game 7. “We shot 56% from the foul line, had a 2 to 1 Assist to Turnover ratio, but managed to make the big plays at the end.”

I still get the same “rush” talking to him and believe he should be acknowledged as such in some manner considering it is topical and it is summer and College Basketball news is relatively slow in the Greater Kingston area.

Below is a little synopsis of my continued relationship with Brendan as the assistant manager of the Rhode Island Basketball team and continued friendship.

In the fall of 1983, when the University of Rhode Island announced the
hiring of head men’s basketball coach Brendan Malone, Scott Brand, a URI
freshman and Syracuse University (SU) basketball fan, believed Christmas
arrived early in Kingston, Rhode Island. Being an Orangeman fan his
entire childhood, since his sister attended SU, Scott was well aware of
the Malone legacy.

Malone started his impressive coaching career as head basketball coach of the legendary Power Memorial High School in New York City, which was Kareem Abdul Jabaar’s Alma Mater.  After winning three titles, Malone continued his career path in upstate New York with the Syracuse Orangemen, as an assistant coach and recruiting mastermind. At Syracuse, Malone was known as the man who lured high school sensation Dwayne “Pearl” Washington to play for the Orangemen. Washington, at the time was considered the most highly decorated high school recruit in the nation.

It didn’t take long for Scott to pay Malone a visit at his office in Keaney Gymnasium and introduce himself.  It was a brief meeting and the two traded Orangeman anecdotes. Scott would have volunteered his service that day to Malone’s rebuilding efforts; however, he was a member of the men’s varsity tennis team.  But when the tennis season ended later in the fall, Scott bee-lined to Malone’s offices and rendered his services as an assistant team manager.

Brand interviewing Malone in the New York Knicks locker room in 1989 In his new capacity, Scott quickly gravitated towards the development of sports promotions that were staged to attract fans to the games and ultimately encourage visiting blue-chip high school recruits to sign-on with URI like future stars Kenny Green and John Evans.  A “Slam Dunk Contest, a “Silly Pets Tricks Show,” and a monthly newsletter were just some of Scott’s contributions to the Malone basketball program. During the course of his involvement, Scott developed a strong bond with Malone on both a professional and personal level.  Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Scott’s dad, Hal, started writing Malone letters offering words of encouragement for his challenging rebuilding efforts. Hal was surprised to receive detailed correspondence back from Malone and a pen-pal friendship flourished. 

Fast-forward to Hal’s 70th birthday where Scott produced a video in tribute to his dad reaching this vaulted milestone.  There was never a question in Scott’s mind that Malone would be featured in the video wishing his dad a Happy Birthday. And once again Malone, then Detroit Piston’s assistant basketball coach, rose to the occasion.  Despite the fact that it had been 11-years since Scott had worked with Malone, he still maintained his friendship. Malone reciprocated by producing a video-tape situated in the Detroit Piston press conference facility, where he wished Hal a Happy 70th Birthday.

Through the years, Scott would call Malone on occasion to catch-up and automatically the former Ram coach would faithfully begin the conversation by enquiring about Hal.  On September 7th, 2008, Hal passed away and shortly thereafter, Scott contacted Malone to inform him.  Malone, now an assistant basketball coach for the Orlando Magic, offered Scott his condolences and the two began reflecting on the early 80’s when Malone set the tone for one of the most successful URI basketball teams in history by bringing in notable stars like Carlton Owens, Kenny Green, Tom Garrick, and John Evans. 

After Malone’s departure, the same team he hand-picked, nearly reached the NCAA Final Eight two-years later, upsetting nationally ranked Missouri and Syracuse before falling to Duke by one-point. All those Malone coached one-point losses and his infusion of new recruits created the perfect storm for the Ram’s unlikely run in the 1987 season. 

Scott was surprised and flattered to learn that Malone had only been in contact with two other people affiliated with the URI basketball program since his departure nearly 25-years ago.  And Brand was in good company with URI stars Tom Garrick and Kenny Green as the three people to maintain contact with the former Rhody coach. Scott felt proud hearing that from his life-long role-model, but unfortunately this time it was bitter-sweet since he could not share the news with his best-friend Hal.   

AP Photo

March 19, 2009 | AP Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Stanley Pringle scored 19 points, Andrew Jones had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Penn State withstood Rhode Island’s backcourt pressure in an 83-72 victory Thursday night to advance to the NIT quarterfinals.

The Nittany Lions (24-11) didn’t hit a field goal the last 8:53 of the game, and the Rams (23-11) closed a 16-point deficit to 72-66 with about 2 minutes left. But Penn State sealed the win at the foul line, making 14 of 17 chances down the stretch.

Jimmy Baron had 24 points to lead Rhode Island, including several from well behind the 3-point arc, while Kaheim Seawright added 17.

Rhode Island never led, but got to within single digits several times late in part because of withering defensive pressure.

Pringle’s jumper with 8:53 left was Penn State’s last field goal of the night, but the team came through at the line.

Minus starting forward Jamelle Cornley because of a left shoulder injury, the Nittany Lions also had to play without leading scorer Talor Battle for the last three-plus minutes. Battle hobbled back to the bench after being treated for an apparent ankle injury but didn’t return.

The lightning-quick point guard is Penn State’s best clutch shooter, as evidenced by his buzzer-beating 3-pointer on Tuesday night at the end of regulation against George Mason in the first round of the NIT.

They didn’t need Battle down the stretch on Thursday. Comfortably ahead much of the night, Penn State overcame the Rams’ chippy defense with free-throw shooting.

The Nittany Lions, who shot 64 percent on the season from the line, went 27-of-31 (87 percent) to help them win consecutive postseason games for the first time since advancing to the NCAA regional semifinals in 2001.

Rhode Island trailed by 15 early before a 12-0 run midway through the first half fueled by defensive pressure. The Rams forced four turnovers off inbound plays during a three-plus minute stretch to close to 20-17.

But Rhode Island never got closer as Penn State avenged a 77-72 loss to the Rams in during a tournament in November.

AP Photo

March 17, 2009 | AP Press

LEWISTON, N.Y. — Kahiem Seawright scored 20 points in the second half — including all 10 for Rhode Island during its critical run — and the Rams beat Niagara 68-62 in an NIT first-round game on Tuesday night.

Jimmy Baron scored 20, including hitting six free throws in the final 40 seconds, for the sixth-seeded Rams (23-10), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Seawright finished with 23 points for the Rams, who are making their 13th NIT appearance and improved to 7-6 in tournament-opening games.

Rhode Island plays Penn State in the second round.

Anthony Nelson scored 14 for the poor-shooting Purple Eagles, who finished 21-of-59 from the field, and 7-of-27 in 3-point attempts. Third-seeded Niagara (26-9) had a seven-game home win streak snapped.

The Purple Eagles were also denied an opportunity to match a school record for victories, and dropped to 9-13 in making their 13th NIT appearance. Niagara was coming off a 77-70 loss to Siena in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship game last week.

Seawright, who added 10 rebounds, was the difference for a Rhode Island team that spent the past week still stewing over a 78-74 loss to Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals last week.

The game was decided with 38 seconds left when Niagara’s Bilal Benn was charged a technical foul for touching the ball out of bounds in attempting to deny an inbound pass. Baron hit the two free throws, putting Rhode Island up 62-57. Baron was then fouled on the Rams’ next possession, and once again hit two free throws to extend the lead to seven.

Otherwise, the Rams took control early in the second half — after they trailed by as many as nine in the first.

With Rhode Island trailing 41-34, the Rams gained momentum courtesy of Seawright, who sparked a 10-2 run by hitting a free throw after he missed the first attempt.

The senior forward was then nearly perfect, scoring 10 straight over a span of 2:42 that put the Rams ahead 43-41 with 12:20 remaining. Seawright hit a tough 16-footer from the baseline and completed a three-point play after being fouled on drive to the basket.

Niagara recovered briefly, and regained the lead — 46-45 — when Rob Garrison hit a 3-point shot.

The Rams responded and took the lead for good when Jason Francis scored on a putback after Keith Cothran missed a 3-point attempt.

Rhode Island’s 23 wins are the third most in school history, and the most since the program went 25-9 in 1997-98.

Tyrone Lewis added 13 points for Niagara, but went 4-of-17 in field goal attempts and missed 11 of 14 3-point shots.

AP Press

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Damian Saunders had 20 points to lead Duquesne to a 78-74 win over Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 tournament on Thursday.

Bill Clark finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Aaron Jackson added 17 points for the Dukes (20-11), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 1994.

Jimmy Baron had eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points for the Rams (22-10), while Kahiem Seawright had 13 points and Keith Cothran and Will Martell each scored 10.

The teams traded baskets for most of the game, which saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. But Duquesne finally went ahead for good on Clark’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, which gave his team a 72-69 lead.

AP Photo

March 7, 2009 by Chris Frechette | A10CollegeHoops

KINGSTON, RI — The stage was set for another big win for URI.  Marquis Jones had just hit two free throws to put the Rams up 71-70 with just six seconds to play.  After a UMass timeout, the Minutement inbounded the ball to their star point guard, Chris Lowe.  Lowe then dribbled the ball coast to coast for a gamewinning layup over Ram forward Kahiem Seawright to win the game, 72-71. 

Lowe got a little help on the play by teammate Matt Glass who made a crippling blind pick on URI defender, Lamonte Ulmer, sending Ulmer to the floor in a heap.  URI and it’s 7,707 fans in attendence were waiting to hear a whistle blown on the play that didn’t come.  Maybe if the play was earlier in the game, a whistle would’ve come, but not in the final seconds.  The Rams and Ram faithful just stood stunned after what had just transpired. 

It was games like these URI was just getting used to winning.  Like the Dayton game a few weeks back where the crowd rushed the floor on “Pinkout night” after Jones hit the game winning basket.  The feeling was similar at the sold out Ryan Center on senior night.  After  Jones drove the lane and was fouled by UMass center, Luke Bonner, Jones hit both free throws to put the Rams up by one.  Security advised those in the courtside seats to prepare to take cover in case the crowd rushed the floor again.  Unfortunately for URI, that scenario didn’t come.

Chris Lowe led the Minutement with 18 points and 7 assists.  Also in double figures for UMass (12-17, 7-9 A-10) were Ricky Harris with 13 points, Gary Corriea with 12, and Matt Glass with 13 points all in the first half.  It appreared as though Glass couldn’t miss as he hit open shot after open shot going 5-6 from the field and 3-4 from behind the 3 point arc.

URI Coach Jim Baron acknowledged the open shots allowed by his Rams.  “They shot the ball well,” he said.  “We let them have open shots and they hit them”. 

In the first half URI wasn’t hitting anything from 3 point range, going 0 for 12 from threes in the entire first half, including o for 5 from URI guard Jimmy Baron.  Baron did heat up in the second half scoring 16 of his game high 22 points on 4 of 7 shooting from three point range.  URI was also led by Lamonte Ulmer’s 12 points, mostly on alley oops, dunks and layups.  Ulmer shot 5 for 6 from the field and 2 for 3 from the charity stripe.  Delroy James chipped in 12 points and 12 rebounds.

URI’s first three pointer came with 14:47 left in the second half from Jimmy Baron, who was the only Ram to hit a three pointer in the whole game as the Rams went 4 for 19 (21%) for the game.  Baron’s second three at 5:57 left in the second half broke the URI single season three point record of 99 as well as the Atlantic 10 all-time record of 342.  Baron ended up with 102 threes for the season and 344 for his career.

One can only wonder what this loss means for URI (22-9, 11-5 A-10) in their quest for an NCAA tourney bid.  The A-10 would clearly like to be represented by 3 teams in the NCAA tourney, but the problem seems that their top teams aren’t closing the season out with wins.  Temple, Dayton and now URI have all lost within the last seven days.

URI players and coaches wouldn’t speculate what this loss does for their tourney hopes, but UMass coach Derek Kellogg thinks highly of the Rams.  “They’re a NCAA tournament quality team,”  he said.  But Kellogg also wouldn’t speculate if this loss burst the Rams bubble.

“You got to give credit to Lowe, he made some big plays,”  Baron said.  “He made a great play with the layup on the last play”.

When asked about senior night, Baron said, “It’s emotionally draining, we were flat, and I knew it would be a hard fought game.  You can’t take anything for granted”.

The Rams need to heed that advice and not let the NCAA committee decide their fate.  Their way into the Big Dance may now only come by winning the A-10 tournament.

March 1, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops

PITTSBURGH, PA. — If there was ever any doubt about Aaron Jackson’s legitimacy as an elite college basketball player, perhaps one of his best efforts to remove it came over the weekend against Rhode Island. Jackson led all scorers with 24 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in a heroic effort that fell just short in the final seconds of a 73-71 loss.

On a Sunday afternoon where Duquesne honored their starting point guard, along with teammate Phillip Fayne for Senior Day at the A.J. Palumbo Center, Jackson helped get the Dukes started early with a back-door bounce pass to freshman Melquan Bolding for a slam dunk just 36 seconds into the game to put them on the board. From that point on, it was understood that it was going to be one of those days where the crowd was in for a good show.

After two early three-pointers by Jimmy Baron helped give Rhode Island a 10-4 lead, Jackson helped lead a string of three consecutive baskets with another baseline feed to Bolding for a reverse layup, and then a layup of his own to bring Duquesne within two. Bill Clark’s floater inside the paint with 16:16 remaining tied the game at 10.

Afterward came a battle between the two teams that saw four lead changes and five ties through the duration of the half. Keith Cothran’s dunk following a rebound off a Delroy James miss put Rhode Island ahead, 32-27, with 4:04 to go. Cothran scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor.

But then Duquesne answered with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Damian Saunders three-pointer from the top of the circle to give them a 34-32 lead with 3:02 remaining. The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward was faced with the difficult task of defending 7-foot center Will Martell, but he held him to only four points, recording four blocked shots and three steals to go with his 12 points and six rebounds. Also, the Dukes held the scoring edge in the paint, 38-34, as Saunders and Clark combined for 33 points.

“Damian and Billy are playing as well as we could ask them to,” Everhart said of his two sophomore starting forwards, who have been forced to play against bigger opponents due to the Dukes’ lack of size in the front court. “Of course there are games when Damian can play better and there are days when I just want to choke Billy, but I have no problem with the effort they have given.”

After Rhode Island guard Marquis Jones’ layup helped tie the game for the Rams on their ensuing possession, Duquesne rattled off another string of three unanswered baskets to close out the half. The Dukes’ freshman led the way, as two B.J. Monteiro free throws and a pair of Bolding jumpers — the latter of which came from the right baseline with two seconds left — closed out the half with the home team ahead, 40-34.

In the second half, Duquesne worked quickly to build on their lead as Bolding hit a three pointer at about two minutes in to put the Dukes ahead, 45-38. He shot 6-for-8 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc for 16 points, along with six rebounds.

Rhode Island quickly responded with a layup by Jones and another three-pointer from Baron – he made four of his eight attempts behind the arc – to pull the Rams within two. But Bolding struck again with his second three pointer, Saunders added another from the left corner, and Duquesne was back up by six at 15:54.

Over the next two and a half minutes, Rhode Island went on a 15-3 run, including five points by Baron, six by Kahiem Seawright, and a steal by Jones for a layup that had the Rams ahead, 60-54 with 11:33 to go. Baron, a former prep school teammate of Jackson’s, finished with 14 points, and Seawright scored 24, with 17 coming in the second half.

Duquesne began to chip away at the lead, with Jackson leading the charge. He scored 16 of the Dukes’ final 20 points, and his jumper with 2:01 remaining tied the game at 66. Two free throws by Seawright moments later put Rhode Island ahead by two.

But it was James — the younger brother of former Duquesne forward and season blocked shot record holder Shawn James — that delivered what Everhart called, “the biggest shot of the game.” His driving, left-handed hook shot off the glass with 1:11 remaining put the Rams up, 70-66, seemingly putting the game out of reach.

However, Jackson and his mates refused to concede, as he forced a steal off Baron and scored on a layup with 36 seconds to go to pull back within two. Seawright responded with a power move inside for a slam and a four-point Rams’ lead that became five when Cothran converted one of two free throw attempts.

Jackson then let the ensuing inbound pass bounce to half court before picking it up, pulling up at the top of the key and draining a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two with only six seconds to go. Seawright then missed the first of a one-and-one bonus free throw attempt, rebounded by Saunders and giving Duquesne a chance to tie the game or win it with five seconds left.

“I was thinking, this is our chance to win the game,” Jackson said.

Jones, with two Rams’ team fouls to give, made a heady veteran move and fouled immediately to force Duquesne to inbound from the far end of the court with three seconds left. Then, on the ensuing inbound play, he fouled again to force another inbound with 1.5 seconds to go.

Jackson got the inbound pass and got in position to shoot the potential game-winner from the top of the circle, but his three-point attempt fell short, and so did Duquesne’s comeback hopes. 

“We tried to run a back-door screen play for Damian or [Jason] Duty,” Everhart explained, “but they guarded it pretty well and Aaron cut in between them. If we would’ve had another timeout, we probably would’ve used it and tried to do something else.”

Trailing Temple by one game in the A-10 standings, Duquesne has a meeting Wednesday against St. Louis in their home finale and a March 7 meeting with Dayton, needing to likely win both games in order to finish in fourth place and secure a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

“We tried to get the win today, but we didn’t, so we have to look towards the next game,” Jackson said. “We want to win these last two games and get that bye, so we’re going to get to practicing to get there.”