Mohegan Madness
As Saturday's bout between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Rhode Island Rams began, it appeared as though only the team that had to fly several miles to the Mohegan Sun arena wanted to exert any effort into the game. The team whose campus was a mere 40 miles away from this prestigious event may have been overwhelmed by all of the hype and expectations of this game. The only thing that could be viewed throughout the massive Rhode Island crowd was the mutual disappointment they all shared. Had all of these Rhode Islanders drove their way to Uncasville, CT to watch a blowout win by the Bearcats or was Rhode Island going to play like their #21 ranking indicated? Fortunately for the Rhode Island faithful, the latter eventually proved evident.
Off the back of tremendous 3 point shooting late in first half by URI's shooting guard, Jared Terrell, URI had cut the lead to a slim 4 point margin with roughly 2 minutes left to go before halftime. With a re-energized URI bench, coaching staff, and crowd, everything was going great at this instant. No one could predict what would occur next, however. With a sharp drive to the basket on a fast break, breakout PG Jarvis Garrett from Milwaukee, WI collapsed immediately to the hardwood after his head collided with the courtside camera man's knee in a freak accident. Shortly thereafter, he was carted off the court following a round of applause from the crowd and handshakes from all of the URI players and staff, as well as Cincinnati players such as Troy Caupain. Now begged the question, how could URI find the wherewithal to pull this game out without their starting PG? The Wisconsin native had continually embodied strength and perseverance, especially with his time with "The Mask" in his sophomore season, where he averaged a career high of 12.5 PPG in many impressive showings against elite opposition like Kris Dunn and Melo Trimble.
The answer to this question was provided by the two elements that Dan Hurley led teams always fall back to, tremendous effort and defense. The first half ended with Cincinnati holding a 39-31 lead and the student-led "Rhody Ruckus" looked as lethargic as all of the adults who backed this Rhode Island team. Who was going to stop the NC State transfer Kyle Washington? Washington continually got to the basketball at will and hit jumpers from here, there, and everywhere.
With the preseason 2nd team all A-10 selection Hassan Martin in foul trouble all night, someone else would have to step up. The unsung hero who would assume this role was Cyril Langevine, a 6'8 true freshman hailing from the Patrick School in Orange County, NJ, coached by none other than Mike Rice. No play was more momentum-building for the school from the Ocean State then when Langevine grabbed an offensive rebound and got fouled by Gary Clark after a missed layup from E.C. Matthews at the 5:19 mark. The energy provided by the freshman was infectious as fellow freshmen, Jeff Dowtin, Michael Layssard, and Michael Tertsea jumped off the bench to congratulate him for his effort and Langevine received a warm exchange from Kuran Iverson. Also, how could anyone miss assistant coach Reynolds-Dean flexing his muscles as if to give the crowd a reminder of what just occurred and of course, coach Dan Hurley screaming at the 6'8 PF, "YOU'RE A MAN-CHILD! YOU'RE A MAN-CHILD!" This momentum swing again put URI in control of this battle, with neither team wanting to give up an inch.
With everything in URI's favor, everyone in the venue knew that given URI's past with closing games, eventually a hero would be needed. Much to the pleasant surprise of several viewers both in the arena and all around the nation watching, it was URI's other preseason 2nd team all A-10 selection, E.C. Matthews. After starting out the game with a poor 8 points on 2-9 shooting, Matthews looked like his contributions would be mediocre at best. However, with Martin constantly on the bench and Garett already hospitalized, a true veteran would need to step up. Everything seemed to click for the Michigan native and Romulus High's finest when he hit a 3 point shot at 6:47 to put URI up 63-58.
Ultimately, Matthews' 3 point shot with 21.7 seconds remaining in the game proved to give Rhode Island enough to pull out the victory, 76-71. As luck would have it, perhaps the 2 players that many believed were under performing to start the year off sealed the victory; E.C. Matthews with big shot after big shot in the second half and Kuran Iverson with a key free throw at 14.6 seconds and a monumental block that denied Cincinnati any chance of a comeback.
