Projo College Hoops

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Matt Mullery scored 24 points and Peter Sullivan added 20 points to lead Brown to a 75-62 victory over Maine on Sunday. Box score here.

Mullery was 9-for-14 and Sullivan was 7-for-11 as the Bears (2-3) shot 47.2 percent (25-for-53) from the field and pulled away late in the second half.

Maine (2-2) took a 41-38 lead on Junior Bernal's 3-pointer with 16:47 left in the game, but Sullivan hit a 3-pointer for a 44-43 advantage with 15:35 remaining.

Jean-Herbert Harris' 3-pointer gave Maine a 54-48 advantage with 11:41 left, and Andrew McCarthy extended the margin to 62-52 on a layup with 6:14 remaining.

Steve Gruber made six consecutive free throws in the final minute to ice the victory.

McCarthy finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

Bernal had 18 points and nine rebounds and Sean McNally added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Maine.

Delroy James led five players in double figures, with 21 points, as Rhode Island led all the way in beating Holy Cross, 92-75, Sunday at the Ryan Center.

The URI point total is the most given up by Holy Cross in 12 years. The most the team gave up while Ralph Willard was the coach was 91, that in an overtime victory over Colgate in 2003.

Besides James, Lamonte Ulmer had 13 points, Keith Cothran 11 points and six assists, and Marquis Jones and Akeem Richmond 10 points apiece. Andrew Keister had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Crusaders, who are now 0-4, the first time in 25 years that team has not won any of its first four starts.

URI led 51-33 at the half. Holy Cross got as close as 10, at 57-47. But Will Martell and Jamal Wilson scored, then James had a 3-pointer to help URI regain control.

Rhode Island is 2-0 and meets Stony Brook, which is 3-0, Tuesday at the Ryan Center.

The URI basketball team came out running this afternoon and hasn't stopped yet.

The Rams have swept to a 51-33 lead over Holy Cross at halftime of their game at the Ryan Center. Rhode Island jumped to a 11-2 lead as it made its first five shots and the Rams have controlled the game, and the pace, all the way.

Delroy James leads nine players who have scored for Rhode Island, with 10. A key, though, is that URI has gotten great work off the bench. Freshmen Nikola Malesevic and Akeem Richmond have cobmined for 15 points. They each have two 3-point hoops.

The teams are on the court warming up for URI's home opener.

The Rams, 1-0, will host Holy Cross, which is a surprising 0-3 after three close losses.

No big news to report. Holy Cross just arrived this morning. Most schools prefer to get acclimated to a court the day before a game. However, the Crusaders played Friday night at home, practiced Saturday at home and made the 75-minute drive to the Ryan Center this morning.

URI still has not received word on the eligibility of freshman guard Lisandro Ruiz Moreno.

Usually, I just ignore nonsense such as the following, but it's so stupid it begs to be addressed,,,

Here's a quote from a reader, commenting on a recent blog of mine headlined: Kudos to Keno, and Jim Baron, too:

"URI under Baron plays nothing but cupcakes in pre-conference..."

Really?

The Rams opened at Brown, which Friday night on the road against St. John's of the powerful Big East Conference trailed by just a single point in the final minute before losing by three after missing a desperation trey just before the final horn sounded.

Next up for URI is Holy Cross, the preseason favorite to win the Patriot League. After the Crusaders, the Rams play at Davidson -- which has won the Southern Conference tournament three of the last four years, and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament in 2008 -- and also at Virginia Commonwealth, which has won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament two of the last three years, and in 2007 knocked off Duke in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Then long-time rival Providence College, of the Big East, and Northeastern, which returns four starters from the team that beat the Friars last season at the Dunk, come to the Ryan Center, after which URI travels to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

As if that weren't enough, the Rams also play Oklahoma State, of the Big 12, on a neutral court at Mohegan Sun -- the Cowboys won a game in the NCAA tourney last season -- and then travel to Akron to take on the Zips, who are the overwhelming choice to win the Mid-American Conference title this season.

"Cupcakes?"

Which is why I have to chuckle at this incredibly-clueless poster.

And, while we're at it, another poster in the same blog asked: "How is Northeastern a 'lesser' team than PC?"

That wasn't the correct context. The phrase was "perceived lesser foes." Most people around the country perceive the Big East to be a better league than the Colonial Athletic Association.

BTW, it's interesting that none of the rabid Rhody rooters enlightened the misguided soul who claimed the Rams played a "cupcake" preseason schedule.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A late-game meltdown has caught the Providence Friars in their trip to Alabama.

The Friars led by a point with 70 seconds left but Alabama closed the game on a 10-0 run to beat PC, 84-75

Jamine Peterson scored a career-high 27 points for the Friars and added 14 rebounds. Marshon Brooks chipped in with 22 points. Sharaud Curry did not score a point until he made two free throws with 12 minutes left in the game and finished missing all nine of his field goal tries.

Mikhail Torrance led Alabama (2-1) with 26 points.

Alabama scored the game's opening five points but the Friar offense kicked into gear mainly do to an early flurry by Peterson.

Duke Mondy hit PC's first field goal and first 3-pointer of the game to get PC rolling but then Peterson took over. He put back his own miss for a hoop, hit a nice floater in the lane and then banged home a 3-point shot. A Alabama turnover led to a fastbreak that ended with Peterson gliding to the rim with a nice finger-roll finish.

That score gave PC a 17-13 lead and then it was Brooks' turn. His swished a deep 3-pointer for a 22-16 lead, a nice stop-and-pop 12 foot jumper and then a driving runner off the glass that kept PC in charge, 26-21. Alabama responded with its best run of the half as it ripped off nine straight points to grab a 30-26 lead.

The Friars switched defenses into a zone at that point and the Tide went cold. Over the final 4:25 of the half, Providence outscored the home team, 11-3. Brian McKenzie hit a nice 3-pointer at the start of the run but Brooks ended it with a behind-the-back, Paul Pierce-like fallaway jumper that gave the Friars a 37-33 lead at the half. The hoop gave him 14 first half points.

Alabama shot 29 percent in the opening half and made just one of 8 threes. The Tide changed its tune at the start of the second, however. The home team made four of its first five shots to regain the lead, 46-43. The lead grew to five points but a steady diet of Peterson's board game and low-post scoring kept the Friars close. Curry finally scored his first points with 12 minutes left when he hit two free throws that tied the game, 53-53.

The two teams then played back and forth for most of the rest of the half. Alabama held leads of no more than three points and then PC went ahead, 73-72, on two Peterson free throws. A tough spin move in the lane by Brooks made it 75-74 but 'Bama's Andrew Steele scored with 1:10 left to put the Tide back in front. PC's Brooks then had the ball stolen by Torrance with 47 seconds left and he breezed in for a layup and a foul on Curry. His free throw pushed the lead out to 79-75 and the home team was out of the woods..

Providence and Purdue are the only major conference opponents on Alabama's home non-league schedule but Tide fans weren't exactly excited about the game. The reason? Football, of course. Tuscaloosa is one of college football's ultimate destinations and fans here care about the pigskin year round. With the team unbeaten and dreaming of another national title, the entire town is in heaven.

There was limited parking near Coleman Coliseum for the basketball fans. The parking lots are taken over by RV's of rabid football fans who are camping out in advance of Saturday's game against Tennessee-Chattanooga. The announced attendance of 10,032 was clearly tickets sold. There were about 7,000 people in the stands.