Men's basketball continue historic 7-0 start with tight victory over UT Arlington

Photo Courtesy of Shane Donaldson

Feast week was nice to the Rhode Island Rams as it took down the University of Texas at Arlington 83-78 on Thanksgiving after the teams 81-75 victory over Detroit Mercy on Wednesday. 

The victory moved the Rams to 7-0, the first time URI has had that record since 1980. The seventh win marks a program record, as URI had never claimed seven wins before the start of December, the previous record was six when Rhody started 6-3 in 2013. 

Rhode Island was led by guards Sebatian Thomas, a senior, and Jamarques Lawrence, a junior, who had 18 points a piece with Lawrence adding seven assists and five rebounds and Thomas had four assists of his own. 

Rhody led 44-41 at the break with their largest lead standing at just five points within the first 20 minutes of Thursday’s contest. Thomas scored 16 of his 18 points before the intermission, a key contributor to the Rams early lead.

Out of halftime the Mavericks stormed back to take the lead, up 51-48 with 14:04 to go and put the Rams undefeated record in danger. The lead wouldn’t last long as Rhode Island used an 8-2 run led by forward David Green who knocked down two triples during the frame to give URI a 59-53 advantage with 11:19 to play. The Rams would use another 7-0 run to push their lead to 10, as senior guard Jaden House gave the Rams a 65-55 with 8:56 to play. 

UTA wouldn’t go down quietly though, as it chipped away at the Rams’ lead and got within a single possession at the two minute mark. The Mavericks attempted 70 field goals, shooting 39.4% with 28 of those attempts coming from behind the arc. URI was significantly more efficient from the field, shooting 55.6% from the field on 54 attempts. 

Arlington struggled from the field to end the game as it missed its final five attempts that would have given them a chance for the victory. Lawrence, senior center Javonte Brown and sophomore guard Cam Estevez knocked down free throws with less than 32 seconds to play that gave the Rams their five point advantage and pushed the Rams to victory. The Rams struggled from the free throw line for the second straight game though, making 14 of their 23 attempts in back-to-back contests.

Nonetheless, the Rams will leave Jacksonville, Florida 7-0 and head home for three New England rivalries. The first of which is against Yale University at the Ryan Center on Monday at 7 p.m. That game is available to be streamed on ESPN+ with audio broadcasts on WRIU 90.3 FM and The Varsity Network.