NCAA Basketball Recap (Rhode Island-St Bonaventure)
Posted: Sat January 17, 1998 at 11:24 p.m. EST
ST BONAVENTURE 86, (23) RHODE ISLAND 81
Caswell Cyrus had 17 points and 16 rebounds as St. Bonaventure
raced to an 11-point halftime lead and upset Rhode
Island, 86-81, in an Atlantic 10 Conference game.
Rashaan Palmer added 16 points for St. Bonaventure (11-6, 2-3
A-10 East), which broke a three-game losing streak. The Bonnies,
who had not won since upsetting Xavier, 80-77, in the
conference opener on January 3rd, improved to 6-0 at the Reilly
Center this season.
"It's hard for road teams to come in and concentrate and get
their plays called out," Palmer said of the noise at the Reilly
Center. "It really got loud in here tonight."
The Bonnies played without second-leading scorer Tim Winn, who
is out for the rest of January with a broken left ankle.
Tyson Wheeler scored 22 points while handing out eight assists
and Cuttino Mobley added 21 and seven rebounds for the Rams
(12-3, 4-1), who had their six-game winning streak snapped. The
streak was the longest for Rhode Island since it ran off eight
straight during the 1987-88 season.
"Rhode Island is a very good basketball team," Bonnies coach Jim
Baron said. "Our guys did a good job of coming to play tonight.
It was a big win for us."
The Bonnies trailed 9-8 with just under three minutes gone
before running off eight straight points to take the lead for
good. Palmer's foul shot tied the game and Cyrus gave St.
Bonaventure the lead with a five-foot jumper. Cyrus added one
from the line and Palmer followed with a short jump shot and a
lay-in for a 16-9 advantage.
Rhode Island fought back within 20-16 with 12:09 remaining in
the half on a layup by Luther Clay, but the Bonnies responded
with a 12-4 spurt, with David Capers scoring five of his nine
points during the stretch. Terrence Durham capped the run with
a foul shot, giving the Bonnies a 32-20 advantage eight minutes
from halftime.
St. Bonaventure shot 53 percent (18-of-34) and took a 44-33 lead
into the break. Peter Van Paassen scored 10 of his 15 points in
the first half for the Bonnies, who finished at 48 percent
(32-of-67) from the field.
The Rams methodically fought back, closing to 84-81 on Wheeler's
three-pointer with nine seconds remaining. But James Singleton
drained two from the line one second later to ice the victory.
"I have to give my team all the credit in the world," Singleton
said. "I knew Rhode Island had quick guards who really pressure
the ball. Being a brand new point guard, I though I handled it
pretty well."
Singleton had five assists but also committed five of the
Bonnies' 15 turnovers in 38 minutes.
Rhode Island shot a respectable 48 percent (29-of-60) but was
dominated on the boards, 51-23. Singleton pulled down 10
rebounds for the Bonnies, who had 23 offensive rebounds to five
for Rhode Island.
"You have to give them all the credit," Rhode Island coach Jim
Harrick said. "They shot the ball well, rebounded well, did
everything well. They played better, they were more energized
and took it to us. They just flat-out beat us."
Rhode Island fell to 11-5 against the Bonnies in the 1990s and
still leads the all-time series, 22-15. A victory would have
given the Rams their best start since the 1987-88 team began
17-2.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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