Field Level Media
Jan 30, 2018
Jared Terrell led the charge with 21 points to lead No. 22 Rhode Island to its 13th straight victory in an 85-83 win against Massachusetts in an Atlantic 10 matchup Tuesday night at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.
Terrell, the Rams' leading scorer, was one of four scorers in double figures along with Jeff Dowtin (19), Andre Berry (15) and E.C. Matthews (10) for Rhode Island (18-3), which remained unbeaten in conference play through 10 games.
It marked the ninth straight game in which the Rams had a 20-point scorer and the 12th in 13 outings.
The Rams are up two spots in the AP Top 25 poll after entering the rankings at No. 24 last week and beating Fordham and Duquesne last week.
Minutemen leading scorer Luwane Pipkins scored a game-high 27 points. Malik Hines added 18 points, Carl Pierre had 16 and C.J. Anderson 15 as Massachusetts (10-13, 3-7) dropped its fifth straight game.
UMass' current skid began with its 73-51 loss at Rhode Island in the teams' first meeting this season Jan. 17. The Minutemen haven't beaten the Rams since winning two of three against them in the 2015-16 season series.
Prior to Tuesday, each of the Minutemen's losses during its latest losing streak had come by 13 or more points.
With his offensive output, Matthews moved passed Kenny Green into ninth place on the Rams' all-time scoring list with 1,725 points. He is six shy of passing Stan Stutz for eighth place.
Dowtin also had 10 assists to establish a new career high.
The Minutemen hung around with the Rams in the first half, trailing 44-41 at the break.
Two throws from Anderson brought UMass within 83-79 with 35 seconds left. Dowtin made just 1 of 2 free throws on the other end before Pipkins sank a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game with 11 seconds to play.
The Rams again failed to capitalize at the line as Jarvis Garrett made 1 of 2 with 10 ticks left. Garrett then fouled Pipkins five seconds later, but he made just one of two at the stripe.
Rhode Island caps a two-game road swing Friday at Virginia Commonwealth. Massachusetts stays at home to face Dayton on Saturday.
--Field Level Media