 Game Preview: La Salle Explorers vs. Rhode Island Rams
Feb. 1, 2010 La Salle Explorers vs. Rhode Island Rams La Salle Explorers (11-10, 3-4) / Conference: Atlantic 10 After playing Temple, the top team in the Atlantic 10 as of Saturday, the Explorers will go down the line of the conference standings and play a team that has the highest winning percentage on Tuesday when they host the Rhode Island Rams in Tom Gola Arena. For the second time this month, freshman Aaric Murray was honored with the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week award. Murray shares his third conference recognition of the season with Fordham’s Chris Gaston after averaging 17.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg last week in games against Fordham and No. 15 Temple. Senior Yves Mekongo has averaged 16.3 ppg in his last three games at Tom Gola Arena. If Mekongo can score 13 points against the Rams on Tuesday, he’ll become the 48th Explorer and the third on the current roster to score 1,000 career points. With 6.5 boards a game, junior Jerrell Williams has helped the Explorers become one of the better teams in the nation in rebounding. Williams, who is providing 8.8 ppg, has shown he can also be a scoring threat. Last week, the junior forward averaged 11 points and six rebounds in two games. At times, Williams has shown the potential to take over a game in both areas at times this season. Earlier this year at No. 2 Villanova, Williams racked up his most productive game of the season with a double-double (15 points and 16 rebounds). Rhode Island Rams (17-3, 5-2) / Conference: Atlantic 10 before the season began, the Rhode Island Rams were projected to finish eighth in the conference. Now with just nine games to go, the Rams are looking like they have a good shot at finishing in the upper-half of the A-10. Rhode Island has been a very tough team to beat. With a 17-3 record, its only loses have come against Virginia Commonwealth, Temple and Xavier, who combine for a 48-15 record on the year. Since head coach Jim Baron’s son, Jimmy, graduated from the program as the school’s all-time scorer, senior Keith Cothran has paced the Rams with the team’s highest scoring average (16.6 ppg), while classmate Lamonte Ulmer is ranked ninth in the conference and first on the team with 7.4 rpg. The Series After going head-to-head 23 times, the Rhode Island Rams have dominated the all-time series with the La Salle Explorers, posting a 19-4 record. Last season, the Rams picked up their fourth consecutive victory over the Explorers. Despite having six players score in double figures, La Salle was unable to tame the Rams in overtime. Senior Rodney Green posted a team-high 22 points, while Rhode Island’s Kahiem Seawright and Delroy James combined for 45 of the team’s 98 points to propel the Ram’s to a 10-point overtime victory. |
