Rhode Island basketball surges in the second half against George Washington; was it enough?
Rhode Island found its groove in the nation's capital.
Rams head coach Archie Miller said his team seemed a little "shell-shocked" early in the contest against George Washington, but hung around long enough to make a surge in the second half and seal an 88-65 victory on the road on Tuesday night.
"I thought our team did a really nice job of sort of locking in on what's important right now," Miller said postgame. "I thought you saw a team tonight that came here, [did] the right things, played the right way and at the end of the day, good things happened for them tonight."
Zek Montgomery enjoyed a career night, with 30 points, and Rhode Island (11-12, 5-5 Atlantic 10) turned in a strong defensive effort to even their conference record. Jaden House added 23 and Brandon Weston, who made his first career start for URI, recorded 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Luis Kortright had a double-double for the Rams with 11 point and 12 boards.
George Washington (14-8, 3-6 A-10) scored the first seven points of the game and held the lead throughout the first half. Rhode Island trailed by 10 midway through the half, but the Rams kept chipping away and finished the half trailing by just a pair.
URI "hung in there," Miller said of the first-half effort, "and then in the second half, [the Rams] did a really nice job in getting off to a great start in the first four minutes."
Rhode Island went on a 12-2 run out of the break, with five points each from Montgomery and Tyson Brown. By the first media timeout, the Rams were up, 47-39, and the visitors didn't look back, pushing the lead to 13 points following a pair of Weston free throws with 8:01 to go.
The Revolutionaries were led by Darren Buchanan Jr., who finished with 23 points and six rebounds. Maximus Edwards added 18 points and six rebounds for George Washington. In addition, James Bishop had nine points and five assists.
The Rams are back on the road this weekend, visiting New England rival UMass on Sunday afternoon.
RHODE ISLAND (88): Brown 3-6 2-3 8, Fuchs 0-1 0-0 0, House 10-18 3-4 23, Kortright 5-12 1-2 11, Weston 3-6 6-6 12, Montgomery 11-14 5-5 30, Estevez 1-6 0-0 3, Dubsky 0-0 0-0 0, Foumena 0-1 1-2 1, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 33-64 18-22 88.
GEORGE WASHINGTON (65): Buchanan 9-13 5-10 23, Akingbola 2-3 0-0 4, Bishop 4-12 0-1 9, Edwards 7-15 2-2 18, Hutchinson 1-7 1-2 3, Autry 1-6 1-2 4, A. Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Weluche-Ume 0-2 0-0 0, Schroder 0-0 1-2 1, Harvey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-61 10-19 65.
Halftime — George Washington 37-35. 3-point goals — Rhode Island 4-16 (Montgomery 3-5, Estevez 1-3, Kortright 0-1, Weston 0-2, House 0-5), George Washington 5-29 (Edwards 2-9, A.Smith 1-3, Bishop 1-4, Autry 1-6, Buchanan 0-1, Weluche-Ume 0-2, Hutchinson 0-4). Fouled out — Akingbola. Rebounds — Rhode Island 38 (Kortright 12), George Washington 26 (Buchanan, Edwards, Hutchinson 6). Assists — Rhode Island 11 (Kortright 5), George Washington 12 (Bishop 5). Total fouls — Rhode Island 16, George Washington 21.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Zek Montgomery's 30-point game propels URI past GWU
