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Rhode Island basketball can't close the gap at Richmond

associated press
·2 min read
URI's Brayon Freeman passes in front of two Richmond defenders Tuesday night in Richmond. 1/18/23
URI's Brayon Freeman passes in front of two Richmond defenders Tuesday night in Richmond. 1/18/23

RICHMOND, Va. — Rhode Island's offensive struggles continued at Richmond on Tuesday night, as the Rams fell to the Spiders, 64-57, in Atlantic 10 play.

Tyler Burton led Richmond (11-8, 4-2 Atlantic 10 Conference) with 23 points, to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Neal Quinn scored 14 points and added five rebounds. Jason Nelson finished with nine points.

Brayon Freeman led the Rams (6-12, 2-4), finishing with 18 points and five assists. He was 5-for-5 at the line. Ishmael Leggett added 13 points for Rhode Island. Sebastian Thomas had six points and two steals and redshirt senior Malik Martin also had six points.

URI's Jalen Carey goes up for a shot on Tuesday night against Richmond. 1/17/23
URI's Jalen Carey goes up for a shot on Tuesday night against Richmond. 1/17/23

The Rams played from behind all night, and every time they got within striking distance, Richmond would hit the shots they needed to keep Rhody at an arm's length. Richmond's size clogged the middle defensively, forcing URI to rely on jump shots. Rhode Island shot just 44% from the floor.

Richmond led 31-27 at halftime, with Burton racking up 11 points. Richmond turned a six-point second-half lead into a 13-point advantage with a 10-3 run to make it a 46-33 lead with 8:22 left in the half. Burton scored 12 second-half points.

The loss marks Rhode Island's second straight in conference play, after the Rams fell to UMass last Saturday. URI will host George Mason on Saturday.

RHODE ISLAND (57): Tchikou 1-3 2-3 4, Carey 2-8 0-0 5, Freeman 6-13 5-5 18, Leggett 5-15 0-0 13, Martin 3-4 0-0 6, Thomas 2-5 0-0 6, Stewart 2-4 0-0 5, Weston 0-2 0-0 0, Samb 0-0 0-0 0; totals 21-54 7-8 57. RICHMOND (64): Burton 9-20 4-4 23, Grace 2-5 0-0 4, Quinn 6-11 2-3 14, Gustavson 2-3 1-2 7, Nelson 2-5 4-4 9, Roche 2-6 0-0 4, Bigelow 0-3 0-0 0, Randolph 1-1 1-1 3, Bailey 0-1 0-0 0; totals 24-55 12-14 64.

Halftime — Richmond 31-27. 3-pt. goals — Rhode Island 8-22 (Leggett 3-7, Thomas 2-3, Stewart 1-3, Carey 1-4, Freeman 1-4, Weston 0-1), Richmond 4-19 (Gustavson 2-3, Nelson 1-2, Burton 1-6, Bigelow 0-2, Grace 0-2, Roche 0-4). Rebounds — Rhode Island 29 (Carey 6), Richmond 35 (Burton, Bigelow 7). Assists — Rhode Island 10 (Freeman 5), Richmond 5 (Grace 3). Total fouls — Rhode Island 16, Richmond 9. Records — Rhode Island 6-9, Richmond 11-8.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island basketball can't close the gap at Richmond