URI Visits Dayton with 1st Place in A-10 On the Line
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
The URI Rams (20-7, 12-4) visit the (22-6, 12-4) Dayton Flyers on Tuesday, March 3 in a battle for the right to remain atop the A-10 Conference. This is the first and only meeting in the regular season between the two teams.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
URI last time out
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Rams escaped La Salle with a 59-56 win on Saturday, February 28 to get back on the winning track after a heartbreaking loss to Dayton.
The Rams led 41-26 early in the second half before La Salle made a big 20-8 run to cut the Rams lead to 49-46 with nine minutes to go.
La Salle got within one at 53-52 with five minutes to go but URI made their free throws down the stretch to come away with the road win.
E.C. Matthews led the Rams, as he has all season, with 21 points in the game.
Dayton Flyers
Dayton comes into this game off a 59-55 road win over #22 VCU on Saturday February 28. Dayton's win knocked the VCU Rams out of first place in the A-10 and out of the national rankings.
"Dayton is a high energy team that doesn't play a lot of guys. They use a short rotation of players who play a lot of minutes which could be an advantage for URI if they fatigue late in the game," URI radio play by play man Steve MacDonald told GoLocalProv.
The Flyers are led by Jordan Sibert, who averages 16.5 points per game this season for Dayton. Sibert is coming off a 19 point performance against VCU and is in the midst of a stretch in which he has reached double figures in five straight games for the Flyers.
Dyshawn Pierre follows up Sibert, pouring in 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds per game. Pierre is coming off the VCU game in which he netted 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Pierre has six double-doubles on the season.
URI vs Dayton
The Rams have been a good road team during conference play, carrying a record of 6-2 into tonight's game against Dayton. However, Dayton comes in with a 15-0 at home this season.
For the Rams to come away with a win, they can't settle for jump shots.
"They have to continue to get the ball inside, against La Salle they had success getting the ball to Gilvydas Biruta and Hassan Martin. Now, they don't necessarily have to score in there, but they have to have the offense start there," MacDonald said.
"This will be a pretty evenly matched game," MacDonald added.
Battle for first place
The Rams and Flyers tip off tonight at 7 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network. The winner will remain in first place in the conference with only two games remaining in the regular season.
A Rams win would go along way in helping them get to the NCAA tournament.
Related Slideshow: URI Rams 2014-2015 Projected Starting Lineup
The URI Men's basketball team returns for the 2014-2015 college basketball season looking to make some noise in the A10 conference. Here is there projected starting lineup.
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