FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2008

Rhode Island College Men’s Basketball Score Report

Providence, RI

1

2

Final

Eastern Connecticut (8-7, 2-3)

19

35

54

Rhode Island College (13-2, 5-0)

47

40

87

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE LEADS RIC PAST WARRIORS, 87-54
RIC Connects on 11 Three-Pointers in 33-Point Win

            Providence, RI— Rhode Island College scored the first eight points of the game en route to an 87-54, 33-point win over Eastern Connecticut in collegiate men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at The Murray Center. The Anchormen have won five straight games and 10 of their last 11, improving their record to 13-2 overall and 5-0 in the Little East Conference.

The win sets up a confrontation with undefeated No. 14 UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at The Murray Center. The Corsairs and Anchormen are both unbeaten in Little East play as well. The game will be videostreamed on www.ric.edu/athletics.

The Anchormen blitzed the Warriors in all facets of the game, holding ECSU to the fewest amount of points scored in a game this season. Eastern Connecticut, which averages 78.9 points per game,  had totaled 54 points in a game on two other occasions this winter. RIC held Eastern Connecticut to just 21 percent shooting from behind the three-point arc (5-for-24) and just 33 percent (21-for-63) from the field. The Warriors came into this afternoon’s game shooting an LEC-best 41 percent from downtown and logged a 46 percent field goal percentage.

RIC junior guard Bobby Bailey (Fall River, MA) led four Anchormen in double figures with an 18-point, two rebound, three-assist effort in just 21 minutes. Classmate backcourt mate Cameron Stewart (Newport, RI) logged 11 points and a game-high six assists to go along with four boards and two steals. Junior guard Tirrell Hill (Bronx, NY) connected on three treys in a 15-point effort. Junior center Wil Lyons (Warwick, RI) rounded out the RIC scoring leaders with 10 points, which included two three-pointers by the 6-9, 260 lbs. big man.

Eastern Connecticut shot the ball better in the second stanza, trailing RIC by five points, 40-35, but never came close to recovering from its first half woes. The Anchormen held its largest lead of the game (37 points), 62-25, with 16 minutes left in the game. Eastern Connecticut junior guard Larry Kelley (New Haven, CT) led the Warriors with 16 points.

RIC held ECSU’s top two scorers, senior forward Leon Martin (Woodbury, CT) and sophomore guard Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, CT), to a combined 6-of-18 shooting performance and 15 points. The tandem had come into the contest averaging 16.2 and 14.1 ppg, respectively.

Eastern Connecticut, which falls to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in the LEC, returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at Western Connecticut.

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