CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS - Will Daniels scored a season-high 28 points and No. 25 Rhode Island beat Georgia Southern 85-80 Saturday night for the Islander Invitational championship.
The uptempo Rams (13-1), off to their best start since 1946-47, had four other players score in double figures. Kahiem Seawright had 13 points, Ulmer Lamonte and Bitee Parfait scored 11 apiece and Jimmy Baron finished with 10. Lamonte also had 10 rebounds.
Rhode Island won its first two games after entering The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1998-99, when the Rams promptly lost their first two after joining the rankings.
Matt Fields led Georgia Southern (9-3) with 18 points, including 14 in the second half. Julian Allen had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Rhode Island nearly blew a 23-point first-half lead, allowing Georgia Southern to get within two at 76-74 with 2:37 remaining.
Daniels pushed the lead back to four with a layup, and Parfait Bitee made two free throws to make it 80-74.
Rhode Island took a 29-6 lead in the game's first 10 minutes as Georgia Southern hit just three of its first 21 shots from the field.
Tuesday
May 14th, 2024
1:23PM
