After another dreadful first half, Rhode Island (16-8) dominated the second half against St. Bonaventure (17-9) en route to the Rams sixth game-winner of the season on Wednesday night.
With 13 seconds left, second-year David Fuchs comes down with a crucial board before getting the ball to fourth-year Sebastian Thomas. St. Bonaventure doubled and then triple-teamed Thomas, who made the right read to find third-year Jamarques Lawrence open in the corner. Despite getting fouled, Lawrence knocked down the 3 and converted the four-point play. The Bonnies then threw their final possession away, turning it over on the inbounds pass. Rhode Island outscored St. Bonaventure 43-27 in the second half, and following a sealing free throw from fourth-year David Green, the Rams won 68-64.
It was a fitting way to end Lawrence’s day, as the Nebraska transfer had a career-high 20 points and tied his career-high in steals with four. Lawrence has been the Rams’ best point-of-attack defender throughout the course of the season, and Wednesday, that was very apparent as Lawrence held Melvin Council Jr. and Jonah Hilton in check. The two Bonnies combined for 34 points on 12 of 29 from the field and turned it over four times to their seven assists.
“We trust Jamarques as much as any guy on our team defensively,” Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller said. “He’s grown leaps and bounds through the course of the season. We put him on the other guy’s best player, best perimeter guy, best shooter, it really hasn’t mattered. He gets hard assignments night in and night out and I really trust him there… his attention to detail and smarts are really good.”
Lawrence knows this is what his team expects of him and makes it his mission to deliver.
“This team looks at me to bring a defensive mindset,” Lawrence said. “My job is to go out there and bring this team energy every day.”
That defensive effort became contagious in the second half; the Rams held the Bonnies to 36% from the field compared to the 50% they shot in the first half. Of the seven guys who played for the Bonnies, just three of them scored in the second half, and the rest only took six shots, missing every one.
Rhode Island struggled once again in the first half, falling behind by as much as 13 points. It’s become the ‘Rhode Island way’ to allow their opponents to put together such a lead early on.
“Ten turnovers at the half, a couple pick-sixes layups, it deflates you,” Miller said. “Bad offense in the first half has really hurt us, that’s been a common theme for us. Fundamentally, we have to correct one or two things.”
Rhode Island only made 10 baskets to go along with those 10 turnovers, and their starting backcourt of Thomas and fourth-year Jaden House missed all seven of their attempts and combined for four turnovers. In the final 15:35 minutes, Thomas picked it up, scoring 15 points as House continued to struggle. House finished with zero points for the first time this season and was the lone Ram with a plus-minus below zero at minus-10.
In place of House, the Rams went big, sending out Fuchs, who dominated the paint in his 15 second-half minutes. Fuchs finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. His recent paint takeover has led to Miller contemplating his starting five.
“As we keep moving forward, we’re going to keep putting ourselves in a better position to be more successful,” Miller said. “I do believe we have to play bigger at times, maybe even with Dave [Green] at the three and David [Fuchs] at the four. We have to do a couple things here unique to give ourselves a chance down the stretch.”
To start the season, the Rams had first-year Tyonne Farrell in the starting five, but following his injury and subsequent departure from the team, the Rams have been in rotation limbo. With fourth-year Quentin Diboundje missing multiple weeks due to an ankle injury, a non-Covid illness and now a shoulder injury, the Rams have lacked wing play. In response, Miller shortened his rotation and has relied more on House, Fuchs and second-year Cam Estevez. In the case of House, the Rams are 5-5 with him in the starting five and 11-3 without. This isn’t to say that House hasn’t been a crucial impact player for the Rams, but rather, he has provided more value as a spark plug sixth man who can terrorize other teams’ bench units.
Going forward, the Rams play four of the top seven teams in the A-10 standings. However, they also get another shot at two of the lesser teams in the A-10 this season. First up is La Salle (12-13); the Explorers are 4-8 in conference play, and one of those four wins came against the Rams back on Jan. 25. That day the Explorers defended their home court, walking away with a 70-64 win; since then, they’ve gone 1-4 and have only won one road game in A-10 play. If Miller and his staff were to experiment with their starting five and rotation, this would be their best opportunity to do so.
This Saturday, the Explorers will make the trip to Kingston, where the Rams are 12-2 this season. Heading into this game, the Rams are still just two games behind the four seed, and the opportunity for a double-bye is still within reach, but failing to capitalize against their easiest remaining opponent will snuff out those hopes.
