Game 35: Men at Rhode Island

The men's team travels to Kingston, RI to face Rhode Island (15-3, 1-2) at the Ryan Center tonight. GW (5-8, 1-2) is coming off of a 74-66 home loss to #20/20 Xavier on Saturday night. In that one, GW cut the deficit to one in the final two minutes, but the Musketeers connected on clutch field goals and free throws down the stretch to avoid the upset. Four Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Maureece Rice (22 points, five rebounds, four assists), Wynton Witherspoon (15 points), Damian Hollis (12 points, 12 rebounds), who had his third-straight double-double and fourth in the last five games, and Rob Diggs (10 points, four rebounds).

The Rams, who were picked to finish second out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return four starters from the squad that went 19-14 and lost to GW in the title game of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament. Rhode Island is led by preseason First Team All-A-10 selection 6-8 senior forward Will Daniels (18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds per game this season) and 6-3 junior guard Jimmy Baron (15.8 points, 44% shooter from three-point land), the son of head coach Jim Baron. The Rams have also received strong performances from 6-2 senior guard Parfait Bitee (9.7 points, 4.9 assists) and 6-8 junior forward Kahiem Seawright (9.1 points, 8.2 rebounds), among others. The elder Baron is 102-97 in his seventh season at Rhode Island; he is 308-300 in 21 seasons as a head coach.

Rhode Island is coming off of a 68-61 loss at Saint Louis on Thursday. In that one, the #21/23 Rams had four players in double figures in scoring: Daniels (12 points, four rebounds), Bitee (11 points, four rebounds), 6-6 sophomore forward Lamonte Ulmer (11 points, 10 rebounds), and Baron (10 points). However, the Rams allowed Saint Louis to shoot 24-44 (54.5%) from the field. Rhode Island's 1-2 start in conference play has knocked them out of both polls, where they had been ranked for four-straight weeks. The Rams' biggest win of the season was a 91-89 triumph at Syracuse on December 8. Rhode Island is third-best in the A-10 in both scoring offense and rebounding, and 8-0 at home.

This is the 47th-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 25-21. The last meeting came in the title game of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Atlantic City, NJ on March 10. In that one, four Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Carl Elliott (17 points, six rebounds), Dokun Akingbade (15 points, nine rebounds), Rice (12 points, four rebounds), and Regis Koundjia (11 points, five assists). GW forced 21 Rams turnovers in the win that clinched a third-straight berth in the NCAA Tournament. These teams met in Kingston on January 27, 2007, which the Colonials won 82-78 on a handful of clutch shots by Rice and Elliott down the stretch. GW has won the last six meetings in the series and is 2-1 at the Ryan Center.

GW is yet to win away from the Smith Center and Rhode Island is one of the most talented teams in the A-10. That's a bad recipe for the Colonials. Expect the Rams to win this one.

Julian Gompertz and Alex Tainsh have the call for WRGW with Adam Rosenbloom handling production duties. You can listen to the broadcast here on tape delay following the conclusion of the women's game, which tips-off at the same time. Our own Greg Shapiro will join Byron Kerr for the WFED broadcast. You can listen here starting at 6.50 p.m.

Game notes: GW has lost all seven of its games away from the Smith Center this season...The Colonials are 11-15 in their last 26 games away from the Smith Center...GW's last loss in the series came in Kingston on December 8, 2003 by a score of 77-72...Rice needs 15 points to pass Walt Szczerbiak for 32nd place in program history...Rice needs 17 points to pass Mike Battle for 31st place in program history...Rice needs 22 points to pass Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock for 30th place in program history...Rice needs three assists for 200 for his career...Diggs needs five blocks for 90 for his career...Witherspoon needs 27 points to equal his two-year total at Virginia Tech...GW is 3-4 coming off of a loss this season and 2-2 on Wednesdays...Rhode Island assistant coach Kevin Clark was an assistant to Mike Jarvis at GW from 1995 to 1998.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Ryan Center when we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 7.27 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

GW
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Noel Wilmore (6-3 junior from Philadelphia, PA)
F - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)
C - Joseph Katuka (6-10 freshman from Zaria, Nigeria)

Rhode Island
G - Parfait Bitee (6-2 senior from Yaounde, Cameroon)
G - Jimmy Baron (6-3 junior from East Greenwich, RI)
F - Will Daniels (6-8 senior from Poughkeepsie, NY)
F - Kahiem Seawright (6-8 junior from Uniondale, NY)
F - Jason Francis (6-9 junior from Old Harbour, Jamaica)

Remember that botched four-on-one ally-oop attempt. It has happened a few times this season.

Update, 7.38 p.m. - GW leads by one with 6.31 left in the first half. Rice has 15 points. Daniels is 1-6 from the field. So far, this may be the best half the Colonials have played on the road all season.

Update, 7.41 p.m. - Back-to-back steals and dunks by Witherspoon and Xavier Alexander. GW leads by five. Where has this team been all season?

Update, 7.50 p.m. - Tough tip-in by Ulmer to end the first half as the Rams ride the momentum of a 44-39 lead into intermission. Still a very impressive first stanza by the Colonials in a very loud and hostile Ryan Center. We'll see if they can keep it up in the second half.

Update, 8.12 p.m. - 11-3 URI run to open the second half. The Colonials have to answer back or this one is going to get ugly.

Update, 8.21 p.m. - Rhode Island has the largest lead of the game at 56-42. The Rams are playing with much more intensity through the first five minutes of the second half.

Update, 8.29 p.m. - I don't think I have ever heard of nor seen a team that steps out of bounds as much as these Colonials. It has not been a pretty second half. The largest deficit GW has come back from this season was 13 at home against Longwood on December 23.

Update, 8.39 p.m. - Just when there is a glimmer of hope as Daniels picks up his fourth foul and GW cuts the deficit to 10, Rhode Island has now extended the lead to 21. This is not the first time this season that the men have fallen apart in the second half. The question is whether it's the result of a lack of depth and talent or if the halftime adjustments just aren't working.

Update, 9.33 p.m. - Rhode Island wins it 81-70. Three Colonials reach double figures in scoring: Rice with 17 points, all of which came in the first half, and Witherspoon and Wilmore had 10 apiece.

At 5-9 overall, GW joins St. Bonaventure (6-11) and LaSalle (7-10) as the only A-10 teams under .500. If the Atlantic 10 Tournament started today, GW would be the last team to make it in by virtue of holding the tiebreaker over Saint Louis.

That's all for tonight. The men are back in action on Saturday night at Duquesne. As always, thanks for stopping by.