Philadelphia, PA – Rhode Island’s defense was the story of the night as the Rams smothered La Salle, holding the Explorers to just 35 percent shooting from the field in a 67-56 victory. Led by 6-9 senior forward Kuran Iverson, URI stifled La Salle’s offensive flow, causing 13 turnovers, and limiting the Explorers to just nine assists. Iverson’s combination of quickness and length frustrated La Salle’s leading scorer, BJ Johnson, into a 4-of-12 performance from the field.
For a team looking to move into the top four of the A-10 and gain a coveted double bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals, La Salle played an uninspiring 40 minutes. The Explorers made just three 3-pointers and failed to find any semblance of rhythm offensively. The lone bright spots were guards Pookie Powell and Amar Stukes. The duo combined for 27 points and kept La Salle within striking distance.
For the Rhode Island offense, it was the Jared Terrell show. The explosive 6-3 junior guard lit Tom Gola arena up for a season-high 24 points off 11-of-16 from the field. Using his powerful build, quickness and athleticism, Terrell was able to get into the lane at will and finish above the trees with several acrobatic lay-ups. Terrell’s higher profile backcourt mate, 6-5 junior guard EC Matthews, played an extremely efficient game. The laid-back lefty, scored 10 points off 4-of-8 from the field and added two assists, two steals and no turnovers. Matthews, who missed last season with an ACL injury, now lacks explosiveness but makes up for it with deep range and great awareness. Defensive standout Iverson added six points and ten rebounds, and 6-7 senior forward Hassan Martin added 10 points and two blocks in 13 foul-troubled minutes.
Jared Terrell
With the win, URI remains squarely on the bubble at 18-9 overall and 10-5 in conference. The Rams face VCU in Kingston on February 25th. La Salle drops to 14-13 on the year and 8-7 in the A-10. The Explorers head to Amherst on February 26th to try to complete the season sweep over UMass.
This article was written by Robert Smuckler, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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