Trailing by three, 71-68 with six minutes left, Rhode Island (6-3, 1-1) scored nine straight points to assume a six-point, 77-71 advantage with three minutes left. A run of five straight points helped Eastern (3-5, 0-2) cut the gap to one twice thereafter, but the Warriors missed two tries at the basket on one trip down the floor, and senior guard Andre Daley sank two free throws to give Rhode Island a three-point lead, 81-78, with 24.8 seconds left after Eastern had pulled to within one for the second time.
Eastern has lost four straight, the last three by a combined total of ten points. Rhode Island has won three straight.
After leading by five, 42-37 at halftime, Eastern opened up an 11-point, 55-44 lead in the first five minutes of the second half. With the Anchormen trailing by nine with ten minutes left, sophomore forward John Weir sparked a run of eight straight Rhode Island points by hitting two baskets and two free throws. Freshman guard Davon Yarbrough’s three-pointer tied the game at 71-71 and Weir gave his team its first second-half lead, 73-71 with five minutes left.
Rhode Island converted 12 of 13 free throws in the second half.
Sophommore guard Kamara Williams, last year’s conference Rookie-of-the-Year, led all players with 19 points, 13 coming in the second half. Weir had 14 points and ten rebounds and Yarbrough 14 points.
First-year junior guard Michael Stallings led five Eastern double-figure scorers with 18 points (one shy of his season high). Freshman guard Shiwon Davis added 12 points, senior forward Jeroy Smith 13 points and nine rebounds, first-year junior forward Tim Callahan ten points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks and sophomore guard Matt Albon ten points and a season-high nine rebounds.
Eastern hosts Gordon College January 3 at 7 p.m.