Men's Basketball Drops 85-72 Decision to RIC

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island College men's basketball team posted an 85-72 victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Tuesday night at The Murray Center.

The Anchormen improve to 5-1 on the season while the Bears slip to 2-3. RIC now holds a 20-18 advantage in the all-time series as the two teams first met back in 1985.

Senior forward Ousmane Kourouma (Woonsocket, R.I.) paced the Anchormen with double-double totals of 16 points and a game-high ten rebounds (five offensive) to go along with a game-best four blocked shots. Sophomore guard Isaiah Dahl (Cornelius, Ore.) contributed a game-high 17 points as well as five rebounds for RIC while junior guard Deyshawn Tengbeh (East Providence, R.I.) checked in with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Sophomore forward Louis Jennings (Walpole, Mass.) led the way for Bridgewater State with ten points and nine rebounds (three offensive) as well as a block and a pair of steals in 19 minutes off the bench. Freshman guard Tommy Chatten (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored a career-high ten points on 3 of 4 shooting in just eight minutes off the pine, while sophomore forward Steven Morrell (Rochester, Mass.) set career-bests with nine points, on 4 of 6 shooting, six rebounds (four offensive) and a game-best five steals.

The Bears struggled mightily with their shooting until the closing minutes when the game was already well decided. Bridgewater shot 29.3% (24-82) for the game including just 5-for-40 (12.5%) from behind the arc. Those percentages were bolstered in the final 130 seconds when the Bears scored 16 of their 72 points on 6 of 7 field goals attempts, including a three-pointer. Bridgewater also finished 19-for-30 (63.3%) at the free throw line (3-for-4 in the last two minutes).

The Anchormen shot 43.5% (30-69) from the floor, 37.5% (9-24) from three-point range and 57.1% (16-28) at the charity stripe.

Despite their shooting struggles, the Bears held a 15-14 lead following a Damien Perry (Jr., New Bedford, Mass.) driving layup with 11 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. However, back-to-back three-pointer by Dahl ignited an 11-0 RIC run as the Anchormen took the lead for good. Senior guard KJ Uga (Hyde Park, Mass.) also drained a trifecta during the spurt while Dahl capped off the run with a driving layup. Bridgewater cut the deficit to five points on three separate occasions over the final six minutes of the first half but could get no closer. RIC would take a 41-31 lead into the break.

BSU freshman forward Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) opened the second half with a three-pointer to pull the Bears to within seven at 41-34. The Anchormen answered with a 12-0 run highlighted by a Dahl trifecta to open up a 19-point lead (53-34). RIC maintained the double-digit advantage the rest of the way. The Anchormen got up by as many as 23 points twice in the second stanza including a 79-56 advantage with 2:30 showing on the scoreboard.

Bridgewater pulled down a season-best 22 offensive rebounds in the setback but finished with just 13 second chance points.

The Bears travel to UMass Dartmouth next Tuesday night to take on the Corsairs at 7:30. The Anchormen host Brandeis University on Sunday afternoon at one o'clock.