In Head Coach Jesse Agel's first game, the men's basketball team played well but couldn't come away with a win in their season opener, falling 76-74 on the road to a talented URI squad.
"We were fortunate to have had a four-game trip to Europe over the summer where we got comfortable with (Agel's) coaching style," said tri-captain Chris Skrelja '09. "So we knew what to expect, but when the game counts and there are fans in the seats, it's a totally different environment."
The Bears came out strong in the first half and took a 33-29 lead into halftime with 10 points from Matt Mullery '10 and eight points from tri-captain Peter Sullivan '11.
"We did a good job getting the ball down low, and Matt (Mullery) and (tri-captain) Scott (Friske '09) both played really well underneath the basket and that opened things up for us to get shots on the perimeter," Sullivan said.
Mullery finished the game with a career-high 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting, and Friske put together a solid all-around game, finishing with eight points, seven assists and five rebounds. Sullivan led the way for the Bears on the boards, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds, while also adding 15 points on the night.
"I could've shot the ball a little better," Sullivan said of his 5-18 shooting. "I didn't score as efficiently as I did last year."
URI came out hard after halftime, and the second half was a back and forth battle. Brown was able to take a five point lead, 64-59, with 6:44 remaining in the game on a three-pointer by Adrian Williams '11. But the Bears missed a few free throws down the stretch, and URI was able to take advantage, putting together a 7-0 run to gain a permanent lead, 66-64, with 3:14 left in the game.
"In the first half we controlled the tempo," Friske said. "In the second half we had a lot of guys who played a lot of minutes, and I think we got fatigued a little bit and (URI) got to play their style a little more and got quicker baskets."
Williams, Sullivan and Mullery certainly had good reason to be fatigued, as both Williams and Sullivan played the entire 40 minutes, and Mullery played 37.
Fatigue may have been one of the reasons why the Bears struggled at the free throw line, as Brown converted just 13 of 23 free throws in the game and went 12 for 19 in the second half.
"Overall we felt like we played well and executed well," Skrelja said. "But we made some minor mistakes that cost us down the stretch, and missing free throws is definitely something we're going to have to improve on."
Free throws made the difference in the game, as URI was able to convert from the charity stripe down the stretch, making 17 of 20 attempts in the second half to help the Rams hang on for the 76-74 win.
"We felt that we did a good job executing our game plan overall. We executed our plays well and played solid transition defense," Sullivan said. "But we needed to finish down the stretch. If we had made some free throws here or gotten a rebound there, we probably would've come away with the win."
While frustrated with the loss, the Bears feel they will continue to improve and are excited about their potential for the season after playing a team like URI, who nearly upset No. 5 Duke two days ago.
"We played a good athletic team down to the wire, and we felt like we controlled most of the game so that gives us a lot of confidence," Friske said. "We have a tough schedule to start the season, but we're excited to play good teams that will give us tough games, because that's only going to help us down the road."
Sullivan said the team feels "good about where we're at and we think we'll prove we can play with a lot of teams that people don't think we can play with. I think we'll take a lot of people by surprise this year."
The Bears lost 89-52 to 2006 Final Four team George Mason last night and will continue their tough schedule Wednesday in a road game against Holy Cross.
