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Story: <a href='http://www.projo.com/uri/content/projo_20021205_05uri.31969.html' target='_blank'>http://www.projo.com/uri/content/projo_200...5uri.31969.html</a>





Men's basketball: Rams fall victim to the brilliance of Golden Flashes
Antonio Gates and Eric Haut help make Kent State coach Jim Christian's return to his alma mater a happy one.

12/05/2002

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer


SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- Jim Christian inherited one nice college basketball team.

Christian, a URI grad who is the new coach at Kent State, had a pleasant return to his alma mater last night, thanks to his talented team. The Golden Flashes put on an excellent all-around display as they beat Rhode Island, 82-63, at the Ryan Center.

Kent State, which won 30 games and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season when Christian was an assistant under Stan Heath, led all the way. It fought off the scrappy Rams, who used defense to cut the deficit to 50-48 midway through the second half, then pulled away behind terrific play from Antonio Gates, with a big assist from Eric Haut.

"I've got to give Kent State the credit. They came in and they looked like an NCAA final-eight team," said Rhody coach Jim Baron. "They just played with so much more confidence."

"The kid Gates played a great game. We didn't have any answers for him," Baron said. "We kept switching guys on him. I've got to give him credit, he is a heck of a player. We really tried to extend the floor and tried to slow him down. He played 29 minutes and they were big minutes. He did a great job."

Gates looks like a linebacker. He is a bullish 6-foot-5, 250-pound senior. But the lefty plays with silky smooth moves and amazing quickness for someone his size. He had to sit out 10 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls, but had 23 of his 25 points in the second half.

Haut, a slick guard, added 21. Dustin Hellenga had 26 and Lazare Adingono 14 for URI (now 2-2 on the season), but the Rams were overmatched in this one.

Kent State (3-0) lost three starters from last season, but Christian still has plenty of horses. Besides Gates and Haut, he has, among others, a reliable outside shooter in Anthony Wilkins (10 points) and a solid 7-footer in John Edwards (8 points, 2 blocked shots).

It was to URI's credit that it hung in for the first 30 minutes. The Golden Flashes shot a gaudy 65 percent (31-for-48) from the field, were 7-for-9 on 3-pointers and 13-for-15 at the foul line. They also outrebounded URI by 39-29.

URI hit only 34 percent from the floor. But the Rams hung in thanks to their defense. They forced 12 first-half turnovers (6 steals, 4 by Howard Smith), several of which led to easy baskets. Because they had so many turnovers (19 for the game), they took 19 more shots than Kent State.

URI had its best offensive stretch at the start of the second half, hitting seven of its first nine, including two 3-pointers by Hellenga and two more by Adingono. After trailing by as many as 11, that surge pulled the Rams within 50-48 with 11:58 remaining.

Haut then had three straight baskets to build a bit of a cushion. Gates drained a 3-pointer and two free throws, Haut added a trey, and Gates added four more points. Every time Kent State needed something, Gates gave it to them as he came out and handled to ball against the URI pressure.

"He's a very versatile player," Christian said. "He's a very difficult matchup because he's strong and powerful, but he's also very skilled. We try to put him in different situations on the floor where he's hard to guard. He understands what needs to be done on the basketball floor."

He finished 8-for-13 from the field, including hitting both 3-point tries and 7-for-8 from the foul line with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Six turnovers were his only negative.

URI had several different players try to guard Gates, but he was too quick for the forwards, too strong for the guards.

"He just took over the game with his ability," Christian said. "We had to keep going to him."

While Kent State played well, Baron felt his team did not come out as strongly as it needs to.

"We've got to get ready to play right from the start," Baron said. "We've got to get back to working on shooting the basketball, working on passing. We've got to get back to fundamentals."

He noted that after his team pulled within 50-48, it had several costly turnovers that allowed Kent State to regain control. A rebuilding team like URI cannot afford that against anyone, certainly not a team as good as Kent State.

Christian has a team that plays fundamentally sound and unselfishly, switches defenses often and rebounds well. The team, which is now 103-30 in the last five years, figures to once again be a major factor in the Mid-American Conference.

<span style='color:blue'>"I've got to give Kent State the credit. They came in and they looked like an NCAA final-eight team," </span>
:eek:
Golly, that's a nice article!
:D
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