Shooting woes plague Rams vs. Xavier

January 9, 2011

By ERIC RUEB
erueb@ricentral.com

KINGSTON – There wasn’t much to say after the University of Rhode Island’s 72-45 loss to Xavier Sunday night.
In any game, coaches and players go out of their way to find a silver lining, something to grasp on to, something to make it easier to forget an otherwise sour day. Last Monday, the Rams’ left knowing they were blown out on the road by a Florida team that should find its way to the NCAA Tournament, a game that looked like an aberration from how the Rams have played this season.
But Sunday there was no silver lining. The shooting woes that plagued them in against the Gators – where URI shot 40.6 percent from the floor, including a woeful 4-for-23 from the 3-point line – only got worse Sunday. URI hit only 14 of 57 shots and made only 3 of 27 3-pointers, which included 16 missed 3-point attempts in a row in a 24 minute, 54 second span starting from Nikola Malesevic’s three with 12:26 left in the first half.
“For me, right now I’m devastated,” URI’s Delroy James said. “After games you always find a positive, but I’m hurt. Right now, myself and in my teammates, I’m hurt. I feel as a team we laid an egg, a big one.”
“Sometimes we get good looks, sometimes we take bad shots,” said Malesevic, who scored 12 points Sunday. “We’re getting good looks. We just don’t convert those looks.”

For the full story, pick up the Jan. 12 edition of the Narragansett Times.