Tuesday night event tipped off URI basketball season
SOUTH KINGSTOWN --- Saturday will bring somewhat more serious business when the University of Rhode Island hosts Rhode Island College in exhibition action.
Tuesday was a showcase. The men’s and women’s editions of the 2019-20 Rams took the Ryan Center floor in front of a modest gathering and put on a bit of a display. Light practice and scrimmage action accompanied a 3-point shooting contest, and Jeff Dowtin emerged as the winner.
URI’s men were fresh off a Sunday victory over Boston College in a closed scrimmage, one that came despite the absence of senior forward Cyril Langevine (ankle). The nightly double-double threat also took it easy on Tuesday as his teammates went end-to-end and attempted to dunk on everything in sight.
“We feel like we’re one of the best teams in the country,” URI guard Fatts Russell said. “We have to go prove ourselves against the best teams in the country.”
There was no way to gauge that on this night. But the 77-70 triumph over the Eagles included a team-high 20 points from Tyrese Martin and comebacks from a pair of double-digit deficits. Russell knocked down a critical 3-pointer inside the final minute to give URI the advantage for good.
“I was impressed with the competitiveness,” URI coach David Cox said. “I was impressed with some of the carryover of some of the things we’ve been emphasizing for the first four or five weeks of practice.”
The Rams will ramp up against the Anchormen and go at it for real against Long Island University on Nov. 5. What follows is the first of three games against a member of the Associated Press preseason top 25, as URI travels to face No. 7 Maryland on Nov. 9. The Rams play 10 games against teams who received at least one vote in the season’s first poll and 13 games against members of the preseason KenPom.com top 100.
“We scheduled all those tough teams because we think we can make a major impact,” Dowtin said. “We’ve got to come out there with the same confidence we had before.”
“That’s why these guys came here,” Cox said. “They want to play for a championship-level program and a championship-level team. They want to compete at the highest level, and that’s what we gave them with the schedule.”
URI also used Tuesday night to turn slightly toward the future. The Rams hosted a pair of shooting guard recruits from Brooklyn in 2021 prospect Tahron Allen and 2023 prospect Jahmere Tripp. A URI source declined to name any additional visitors, and that could be by design – the Rams now find themselves in a recruiting battle for 2020 big man Josh Ogundele after late pushes by Iowa, Cincinnati and in-state rival Providence.
Tuesday also represented a fresh start for the Rams women, who have been limited to single-digit victories in each of the last three seasons. Tammi Reiss has taken the whistle from Daynia La-Force and promised increased energy both on game nights and during practices. URI opens its season Nov. 7 against the same LIU program.
“I have one expectation – we show up and we compete,” Reiss said. “Give 110%, so when we leave the floor I can have people come up to me and say, ‘My God, your team plays hard.’ That’s the expectation this year.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25