3:03 p.m. Taylor drives and the Rams finally stop him, blocking his shot, and Bynes puts up a three from the corner that misses and goes out of bounds. The Rams hold the ball for the final few seconds and hold on to win 72-66. Check back more for a full post-game update and in Monday’s online and print editions for more coverage. Thank you for reading.
3:01 p.m. Cothran gets the ball, Bynes fouls him, and Cothran will go to the line for two shots with 16 seconds to play. Cothran misses the first and has the second rattle in to give teh Rams a six-point lead.
3:00 p.m. Taylor hits a quick three, giving him 22 points in the game, and the ready-to-celebrate Ryan Center lets out a disappointed sigh. The Rams still lead by five, however, and have the ball with 17.9 seconds to go.
3:00 p.m. Ulmer hits both shots and URI leads by eight.
2:59 p.m. Hollis is stripped by James and Ulmer gets the ball. GW fouls him and he’ll shoot two shots with URI up 69-63 and 24.1 seconds left.
2:59 p.m. Jones makes one of two shots, putting URI up by six. GW now has the ball.
2:57 p.m. Cothran misses the front end of a one-and-one on the other end and Opoku grabs the rebound. Taylor hits a high-arcing jumper on the other end to cut the deficit to five. Jones is fouled by GW and will go to the line for two shots with 35.3 seconds left.
2:55 p.m. Taylor draws contact during a drive, sending him to the line for a one-and-one. He misses the front end and Rhode Island secures the rebound, calling a timeout as GW’s defense swarms with 51.2 seconds on the clock.
2:54 p.m. Cothran is left open for a three in the corner and he buries it, putting URI up 68-61 with a minute left. The Ryan Center went crazy when the shot fell.
2:53 p.m. Taylor crosses over his defender then steps back to take a 19-foot jumper that falls and cuts GW’s deficit to four points. There’s about 1:15 left.
2:52 p.m. Martell makes a nice move to the basket to score as Opoku defends him, putting the Rams back up by six with two minutes left. Hobbs calls a timeout and is not happy with one official as he points to Ware.
2:51 p.m. Taylor beats his man to get into the lane and collides with another defender, sending the ball off his hands and out of bounds and giving Rhode Island possession. Opoku grabs a rebound on the other end but Rhode Island grabs it to force a jump-ball and keep possession with 2:09 on the clock. Hobbs came pretty far onto the floor after the call and was talked to by an official.
2:50 p.m. Taylor drives left, but Martell rushes from behind him and swats his shot out of bounds. GW will keep possession with 2:35 to play.
2:48 p.m. Smith gets a steal at midcourt out of the timeout, giving GW the ball back, but Taylor’s bounce-pass inside results in a turnover. Mejia is called for a charge on the other end as Opoku blocks his shot though, so the Colonials will once again have the ball down by four with three minutes to go.
2:46 p.m. Taylor drives and kicks it out to Kromah for a mid-range jumper, but it misses off the front of the rim. The rebound goes long and Katuka and Kromah both go for it, but can’t secure it as it goes out of bounds to give the Rams the ball after an official timeout with 3:41 left.
2:45 p.m. On the other end, Katuka blocks a shot to create a jump ball that wins GW possession.
2:45 p.m. Katuka scores to put GW back within six as the game approaches the four-minute mark.
2:44 p.m. Smith fouls Outerbridge, who hits both shots to put the Rams back up by six with 4:42 to play.
2:43 p.m. And just like that, Smith answers with a long two of his own. It’s 61-57 URI inside the five-minute mark.
2:43 p.m. That doesn’t last long, as Mejia hits a three that bounces off the rim and rolls in.
2:42 p.m. Smith has a short little hook-type shot fall and puts GW within three points for the first time since the very early stages of the game. There’s about 5:30 to play.
2:40 p.m. Kromah has a big block from behind when Cothran tries to go back up with an offensive rebound, but Kromah is called for the foul, his third. Cothran makes one of two shots and Rhode Island is up five with seven to play. Hollis turns it over on the other end.
2:39 p.m. Inbound the ball under the basket, Kromah finds Taylor for a layup and Rhode Island’s lead is back down to four.
2:38 p.m. Opoku gets a piece of this inbound pass and sends it out of bounds immediately. GW is defending the inbound passes well of late.
2:36 p.m. Rhode Island passes the ball in, Kromah gets a piece of it, and it goes out of bounds after just two seconds tick off the clock, sending the game into the inside-the-eight-minute-mark official timeout.
2:35 p.m. Opoku and Pellom trap Ulmer in the corner and there’s a bit of contact when an official blows his whistle. Opoku looks around with a confused look, thinking he had been called for his fourth foul, but the official signals that Rhode Island called a timeout from the bench. It’s still 57-51 with 7:42 to play.
2:34 p.m. Ware loses the ball while driving, but falls to the ground and grabs it near the baseline while trying to call timeout. The official says he touched out of bounds before getting the timeout, however, and Rhode Island gets the ball, still leading by six with eight minutes to go.
2:32 p.m. Ulmer hits a jumper and Smith misses a shot on the other end, then Hollis picks up his third personal foul when he hits Mejia in the head while reaching for the rebound.
2:31 p.m. Rhode Island’s Ulmer misses a put-back dunk, Smith grabs the rebound and pushes it up the floor, but Kromah loses his hand and steps out of bounds after grabbing the loose ball. It’s still 55-51 URI with 9:22 left.
2:29 p.m. Hollis scores a quick two and the Colonials are within four points with 9:54 left, prompting a Rhode Island timeout.
2:28 p.m. Richmond makes a three off of an inbound play under URI’s basket, then Kromah scores on a layup. The Rams lead 55-49.
2:27 p.m. Taylor misses a layup after a drive, then Hollis is called for a close goaltend when he blocks a URI shot that was apparently past its apex. Opoku scores a put-back off a Smith miss in transition on the next possession. The Rams lead 52-47 with 10:52 to go.
2:26 p.m. Rhode Island’s Stevie Mejia makes one of two shots and the Rams lead 50-45.
2:24 p.m. The Colonials go on a bit of a run, capped by two Taylor free throws and a three by Kromah, and suddenly they’ve cut Rhode Island’s lead to four points with 11:45 left. GW is 6-for-13 shooting this half and have out-rebounded the Rams six to two since he break. Opoku was just called for a foul, his third, and Rhode Island will have the ball after the current media timeout. I’m done taking photos for now, by the way.
2:14 p.m. GW gets its third straight steal and the third time is the charm, as Smith scores on a layup to finish the play. GW trails 44-38 at an official timeout with 15:18 remaining. I’m going to take more photos after the timeout but try to be back soon with more updates.
2:14 p.m. Freshman David Pellom comes up with a steal again, but Bynes can’t finish and Opoku can’t grab the put-back.
2:14 p.m. Smith gets a steal on the next possession, but loses control of the ball as he tries to push it up to Kromah and the Rams get it back.
2:13 p.m. Taylor is fouled during a take to the hoop and gets sent to the line for two shots, which he makes. Rhode Island leads 44-36 with 16:29 to go.
2:11 p.m. Hollis drives to the hoop and draws a lot of contact, but that contact is ruled a charge and the Rams get the ball going the other way. It’s the second personal foul for Hollis.
2:10 p.m. The single-digit margin is short-lived as Marquis Jones hits a three to extend Rhode Island’s lead to 44-34.
2:10 p.m. Taylor dribbles around the perimeter and gets a screen from Hollis before draining a three, cutting GW’s deficit to seven points inside the 18-minute mark.
2:08 p.m. Martell scores again, then Katuka scores on the other end while being fouled. He makes the extra shot and GW trails 41-31 with 18:46 to go.
2:07 p.m. Rhode Island’s Will Martell starts the half with a bucket inside after a bit of a battle with Katuka, then Taylor answers with a layup of his own in transition. It’s 39-28 Rams with 19 minutes left.
1:58 p.m. GW seems relatively fortunate to still be within relative striking range – an 11-point halftime deficit is not easy to surmount but far from impossible. The Colonials struggled taking care of the ball early on against one of the A-10’s best stealing teams and had no source of scoring while Taylor and Hollis repeatedly missed and Kromah got few chances. Opoku provided a spark off the bench early on, but nothing consistent GW could come to rely on. The Colonials have only taken two shots from beyond the arc, missing both, and do not seem to have a quick trigger in the small windows of opportunity they’ve had to try such shots in the first half.
Rhode Island’s lead is built largely on three-point shooting, as they’ve knocked down four treys and thus the category has accounted for a 12-point swing on the scoreboard. The Rams have also out-scored GW 20-12 in the paint, however, as well as 10-2 on fast breaks and 11-4 off turnovers, so there are a few ways to dissect how they’ve come upon their double-digit lead. If the Colonials are going to come back, they are probably going to need to have their go-to scorers, namely Hollis and Taylor, ratchet up their performance and start hitting some outside shots as a team. Scoring in transition is always key for GW, so forcing Rhode Island to turn the ball over would be another way to instigate a comeback.
That the Colonials played far from their best basketball could suggest that a return to their normal play might make this a closer game the rest of the way, or that they just don’t have it today against one of the conference’s best teams. We’ll find out over the next 20 minutes.
1:50 p.m. Taylor to Pellom to Smith for a big dunk in transition to cut GW’s deficit to eight, but Ryan Brooks scores in the paint as the buzzer sounds and Rhode Island will head into the break with a 37-26 lead over the Colonials.
1:50 p.m. Smith is called for a charge, meaning GW is over the limit and Rhode Island will shoot two for any defensive foul over the first half’s final minute.
1:48 p.m. Kromah drives to his left, has the ball poked out, but recovers it and scores an open layup as his defender was out of position following the attempted strip. It’s now 35-24 Rhode Island, with the Rams having hit a free throw moments ago.
1:48 p.m. Katuka goes to the line for a one-and-one and misses the first shot.
1:46 p.m. Sorry, that was a long two. It’s 34-22 Rhode Island.
1:45 p.m. And just after I say that, Kromah hits a three to cut URI’s lead to 11.
1:43 p.m. GW was able to mostly keep up with the Rams over the past few minutes, but still trails 34-20 with 3:56 left in the first half. The Rams are outshooting the Colonials 46.4 percent to 34.6 percent and are still winning the turnover battle eight to four. Taylor and Hollis each stuck jumpers since I last updated, though they are still a combined 3-for-13 from the field. With Kromah having taken only two shots, one of which he made, and GW making neither of its two three-point attempts thus far, the Colonials have had trouble finding a source of scoring.
1:35 p.m. Pellom lobs a pass inside to Katuka from the perimeter, but it sails over Katuka’s head and out of bounds, giving URI the ball and sending the game into an official timeout with the Rams still leading 29-14 and 7:48 left in the first half. I’m going to go take some more pictures for a bit.
1:33 p.m. Freshman Bryan Bynes has a jumper rim out, then Opoku has the offensive rebound bounce off of his hands, and URI gets the ball. Bynes gets a steal on the next possession and breaks away for a layup, but misses the shot and Opoku gets called for a foul in the battle for the rebound. Since it’s GW’s seventh team foul, Richmond goes to the line for the Rams and makes both shots. It’s a 15-point URI lead with 8:05 on the clock in the first half.
1:31 p.m. Taylor drives on the baseline and gets fouled while having his shot block, sending him to the line. He makes both shots and it’s 27-14 with 9:06 left in the first.
1:29 p.m. Hobbs has called another timeout at the 9:40 mark after URI goes on a 7-0 run that includes a three – the Rams’ fourth – and a steal of a GW inbound pass that was immediately put in for a layup. GW is 6-for-17 shooting and URI is 11-for-23. The Colonials have turned the ball over seven times and URI has done it once.
1:23 p.m. Taylor has the ball stripped from him during a drive and it goes out of bounds, sending the game into an official timeout with URI leading 20-12 and 11:55 left in the half. GW will have the ball on the other side of the break and I’m going to try to take a few photos for a bit, so don’t be worried if there aren’t any updates for a few minutes.
Also, the kid doing this bowling promotional game during the timeout is from Old Lyme, Conn.
1:22 p.m. A note during the timeout: entering today, Rhode Island got 23.3 percent of its points from three-pointers, putting it 254th in the country in the category. The Rams have gotten 45 percent of their points that way through the first eight minutes today. The national average is 27 percent.
1:20 p.m. Hollis misses a short shot, barely misses his own put-back, and Rhode Island pushes it the other way to for two quick points by Orion Outerbridge, which is a great name. Smith misses a shot on the other end and Outerbridge scores again in transition, giving the Rams a 20-12 lead and prompting another Hobbs timeout with 12:11 to go in the half.
1:19 p.m. Opoku grabs an offensive rebound, fumbles it going for a put-back dunk, but scores anyway, giving him six of GW’s 12 points thus far.
1:18 p.m. Opoku scores to make it 16-10 with 14 minutes left in the half.
1:18 p.m. Smith scores out of the timeout, then James hits another three for the Rams. It’s 16-8 Rams.
1:16 p.m. Akeem Richmond hits a three and Cothran gets a steal and breaks away for a layup, giving URI a 13-6 lead and prompting Hobbs to call a timeout at the 14:55 mark. That was a quick burst for the Rams, who have now taken five more shots than GW and forced four turnovers. GW has forced one.
1:16 p.m. James hits a three to give URI an 8-6 lead out of the timeout on a possession in which the Rams missed another open three. They’re getting plenty of looks from outside.
1:13 p.m. Kromah hits a mid-range jumper to give the Colonials a 6-5 lead heading into an official timeout at the 15:51 mark.
1:13 p.m. Rhode Island re-takes the lead on a bucket by Ulmer and is up 5-4 with 16 minutes left in the first half.
1:11 p.m. This game is going to be a fast one. There have already been 13 shots – with only three made – in the first three-plus minutes.
1:10 p.m. An Opoku dunk makes it 4-3 GW.
1:09 p.m. After URI misses its second wide-open three in as many possessions, Katuka fouls Cothran and sends him tot he line for two. Cothran misses the first shot but hits the second to give the Rams a 3-2 lead at the 17:30 mark.. Katuka heads to the bench with two quick fouls, replaced by Opoku. Freshman Dwayne Smith also comes in to replace Ware.
1:08 p.m. Hollis passes up a straightaway three to take a jumper from the free-throw line, which he hits to tie the game at two.
1:08 p.m. As he has the ball strips from him, Katuka is called for a foul when he backs into ad efender and knocks him down.
1:06 p.m. Hollis misses a short shot, but GW retains possession when the ball goes out off of a URI defender, then the Rams knock it out of Kromah’s hands and out of bounds again. Taylor then has a shot blocked and URI works a fast break that ends with Ulmer scoring to put the Rams up 2-0 in the first minute.
1:03 p.m. Rhode Island’s players are being introduced and run off the bench through the usual row of high-fives from teammates, then run and high-five two rows of girls who are probably about 10 to 12-years old.
12:54 p.m. Starting lineups are now available. For GW, sophomore Tony Taylor and freshman Lasan Kromah are at guard, sophomore Aaron Ware and senior Damian Hollis are at forward, and junior Joseph Katuka is at center. No surprises there.
12:53 p.m. Some Connecticut-centric notes from a Connecticutian blogger: this game boasts three players from New Haven, Conn.: GW’s Travis King and Rhode Island’s Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer. UConn transfer Ben Eaves is also a member of the Rams and he had his best game this season against Fairfield, another Connecticut school. URI has a walk-on from Waterford, Conn. – Anthony Malhoit – and GW senior Hermann Opoku attended Connecticut’s South Kent Prep with King before coming to GW. And, of course, Colonials head coach Karl Hobbs was a point guard for UConn from 1980-84 and an assistant coach there for six years before coming to GW. There are more connections within GW’s athletic administration, but I’ll stop now.
12:46 p.m. Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadatte McGlade is in the house. She was watching the Temple-La Salle game on TV in the press room. There’s a doubleheader at the Ryan Center today, as URI’s women’s team will play UMass following this game. Also, the officiating crew is using pink whistles as part of a breast cancer awareness promotion.
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Hello and welcome to today’s live blog from the GW men’s basketball game against Rhode Island at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I. The Colonials (12-7, 2-4 Atlantic 10) are coming off of a thrilling comeback win in overtime against Saint Louis, which snapped a four-game losing streak for GW. It was the team’s second win in conference play and first since beginning its league schedule with a win at St. Bonaventure Jan. 6. Sophomore Tony Taylor led GW with 18 points, while freshmen Dwayne Smith and Lasan Kromah each added 13, including several key scores near the end of regulation and in overtime. Senior Damian Hollis, the team’s top scorer (14.1 points per game) and rebounder (five per game) this season, scored just two points on 1-of-8 shooting in 17 minutes. He had been limited in the previous two games by sore ribs, though I’m not sure if it was his injury or his shooting woes that kept him on the bench for most of the second half and the end of the game against Saint Louis.
Rhode Island (16-3, 4-2 A-10) is a very good team, having won games against Providence, who beat GW in a high-scoring game at the Smith Center in December; Oklahoma State on a neutral site; and Boston College. Two of their losses were very close (82-80 at VCU and 68-64 in overtime against nationally-ranked Temple) and the other was an 11-point defeat at Xavier. Senior guard Keith Cothran leads the Rams in scoring with 16.4 points per game and the team is 29-3 over his career when he scores 15 points or more. Rhode Island’s starting forwards, junior Delroy James and senior Lamonte Ulmer, are next in scoring with 14.2 and 12 points per game, respectively, with the 6-foot-6 Ulmer leading the team in rebounds (7.4 per game) and the 6-foot-8 James being second (5.4). The Rams give up their fair share of points (70.3 per game) but also score a lot (77.8), so there could be a lot of points on the board by the end of this game.
Also, one quick note: I’m on double-duty as a photographer today (triple-duty if you count live-blogging and reporting separately), so there will be points when I have to go snap some shots and there will be a temporary live-blogging blackout. I’ll warn you about it and don’t worry, it most likely won’t be during critical junctures in the game.
There’s still about a half hour until the opening tip, so we’ll be back with starting lineups when they’re available and updates throughout the game.