New-look men's basketball lights up Ryan Center in explosive comeback victory

Photos courtesy of Chris Cost-Kirkpatrick

Double-digit comebacks seemingly run in the blood of the Rhode Island Rams as the men’s basketball team took a page out of the football team's book overcoming a 13-point, second-half deficit en route to a 91-77 win. 

“We had some different guys step up tonight, which was good to see,” URI Head Coach Archie Miller said. “This will make us better, Holy Cross was very very good tonight, they were a tough team.”

For Rhode Island it was fourth-year Drissa Traore that stepped up with a game high +/- of +22 in 23 minutes played. 

“We don’t win without Drissa,” Miller said. “His contribution defensively, his energy, his quickness.”

Traore sparked a second-half comeback that saw the Rams trailing by 13 with 14:58 remaining before out-scoring the Crusaders 42-15 over the last 15 minutes of the game. 

“It was a good turnaround for us,” Miller said. “I don’t know if we win this game this early a couple years ago. I give our players a lot of credit for staying with it, our leadership was really good throughout.”

Fourth-year David Green provided the leadership, scoring 25 points and shooting 66% from the field. Green averaged 14.3 points per game in 2023-24, but scored just 10 points in the Rams season opener against Fairfield. 

“Just want to win games, lead for my team, be a senior leader,” Green said. “That’s my main focus, scoring comes with it. The next night it may not but that’s what I'm focused on.” 

Green scored 13 points in the second half, along with a three-point play that gave Rhode Island the lead with 5:36 to play. 

“I just played a role of being a guy that [the team] could look to, not shaken by anything, not scared of the moment, not afraid,” Green said. “I gotta be that guy for my teammates that when they look at me they don’t see nobody that's afraid.” 

Holy Cross’ second-year guard Joe Nugent scored 27 points, knocking down seven three-pointers, smashing his previous career high of 12 points a key reason the Crusaders had a late lead. 

“That’s an error in breakdown and scouting,” Miller said. “We started to go small and switch all exchanges, at the end of the day I think that made them play in front of us.” 

Rams fourth-year guard Sebastian Thomas added 10 points of his own along with nine assists but suffered a lower-body injury in the second half. Thomas would return but his absence gave a scare to his team and crowd. 

“It really comes down to the guy who holds the keys and that's Sebastian,” Miller said. “He played with nine assists and zero turnovers, an incredible job by him.” 

The Rams moved to 2-0 for the second straight season on Friday and will face off against Division II Franklin Pierce on Tuesday at the Ryan Center looking to extend the win streak.