By: Jeff Uveino
Winning basketball games on the road is never easy.
St. Bonaventure has learned that the hard way over the last couple weeks, and after an 87-73 defeat to the Rhode Island Rams on Saturday afternoon, they fell to 0-3 away from the Reilly Center to begin Atlantic 10 Conference play.
With the loss, St. Bonaventure’s overall record dropped to 12-5, and their in-conference record fell to 2-3. With the win, Rhode Island improved to 13-3 overall, and a perfect 5-0 in Atlantic 10 play.
The first half of play saw plenty of three-point shooting from both teams, and the Bonnies found themselves down by just three points at halftime. However, Rhode Island came out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders.
The Rams pulled away early in the second half and never looked back.
Rhode Island was paced by senior guard E.C. Matthews, who had 20 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Sophomore guard Jeff Dowtin also had a big night for the Rams, scoring 18 points to go along with 9 assists.
The Bonnies struggled to defend Rams’ big man Andre Berry, who was a presence under the rim all afternoon. Berry shot 5-9 from the floor, racking up 12 points.
After a very slow start in conference play, the Bonnies will have to look to get back on track in order to salvage the season. They travel south to North Carolina to play the Davidson Wildcats on Friday night, then will return home to the Reilly Center
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