A 19-4 run to end the first half helped Providence cruise past host Rhode Island 88-74 in Saturday’s 132nd all-time meeting between the two in-state rivals in Kingston, R.I.
Six different Friars (6-3) scored in double figures, with Bryce Hopkins posting 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead the way. Hopkins added four assists and a steal.
Jared Bynum and Clifton Moore also scored 14 apiece, and Noah Locke added 13, helping Providence to 54 percent shooting from the field.
Josaphat Bilau led all scorers with 16 points for the Rams (2-6), but three teammates finished with at least 12. Abdou Samb and Brayon Freeman put up 14 each.
It took almost half of the opening period for either team to take more than a three-point lead, as Ishmael Leggett hit a fast break 3-pointer to lift Rhody 19-18 at the 10:18 mark.
The first half featured nine lead changes.
Each side had no longer than a 4-0 run to that point, but the Friars changed that by stringing together a Locke triple and Alyn Breed layup to move back ahead at 20-19 during the same minute of play.
The visitors finished the first half in dominant fashion. After Samb hit his second of back-to-back field goals for the Rams with 6:40 left, Providence’s eventual winning run included separate 9-0 and 8-0 spurts.
Locke hit a three before Devin Carter and Moore posted back-to-back dunks during the first of those runs, while a Hopkins putback at the buzzer closed the frame.
The Friars built their lead up to 18 after a quick 7-2 run early in the second half, but Samb and Leggett bookended a 6-0 stretch that brought Rhody back within 12 five minutes in. The margin was the same after Bilau’s 3-pointer at 13:44.
Louis Hutchinson’s successful three-point play made it an 11-point game with 9:08 left before Bynum’s triple off a Croswell offensive board cushioned the Providence lead again.
Rhody was within a dozen after Bilau’s layup with 4:57 left, then a Bynum layup helped the visitors on a 5-0 run to separate.
–Field Level Media