House, Montgomery Lead URI Past Central Connecticut In Season Opener

University of Rhode Island Press Release

Rhode Island Starters
Montgomery, Kortright, House, Brown, Fuchs

Central Connecticut State Starters (0-1)
Rodgers, Sweatman, Amos, Jeanne-Rose, Brown

How it Happened
Rhode Island opened up its 2023-24 slate with a win, defeating Central Connecticut State 81-70 on Monday night at The Ryan Center.

Though Rhody (1-0) got off to a slow start, taking over two minutes to get on the board as CCSU (0-1) opened with a 7-2 run. Hoever, the Rams kickstarted their offense with a 10-0 that featured four points each from Jaden House and Zek Montgomery. URI never trailed again and led by 16, 47-31, by the break.

A pair of old-fashioned three-point plays from David Fuchs created an uptick in momentum for the Rams heading into the under-12 media timeout and they cruised from there. Once they started shooting, they shot well, making 11-straight buckets to go up 33-19 with less than 10 minutes to go.

House and Montgomery cleared double-digit points in the opening 20. House led all scorers with 15, while Montgomery added 10The URI defense held the Blue Devils scoreless for nearly three minutes as the clock wound down before a floater from Always Wright punctuated the opening period.

Central Connecticut attempted to get back in it at the start of the second half, opening up the action with a 9-0 run before a trey from Brandon Weston stopped the bleed. The Blue Devils stayed in it and successfully cut the deficit down to single digits when they trailed 53-42 with 17:35 on the clock, but it was the closest they got for the remainder of the game.

The Rams utilized a 15-0 run to re-distance themselves from their visitors and put the game away when they held the opposition scoreless for nearly six minutes. CCSU was plagued by turnovers during the struggle, giving the ball away four times while Rhode Island jumped out 70-47.

Rhode Island continued to keep its foot on the gas, with four different players scoring double-digit points, and powered its way to its first win of the season.

Inside the Box Score

• Jaden House scored a game-high 25 points and led the Rams with three steals.
• He was one of four double-digit scorers for URI, joined by Zek Montgomery (20), Brandon Weston (12) and David Fuchs (10).
• Always Wright tallied a team-best nine assists in his NCAA debut.
• As a team, the Rams had 18 assists with 13 turnovers.
• URI’s effort on the glass was well-balanced, as five different players recorded at least four rebounds each. Tyson Brown hauled in a team-high six.
• Of Rhody’s 81 points, 69 came from players who did not compete for URI last season.
• Rhode Island topped 80 points just two times last season, scoring 82 in a win over Fordham and 80 in an overtime loss to George Washington.
• The Rams had four dunks – two by Jeremy Foumena – and scored 52 points in the paint.
• Rhode Island shot 63.3% from the floor in the first half and went on to finish the game at 56.1 percent.

Up Next
The Rams will continue their home-opening swing with a 7 p.m. game against Fairfield on Thursday, Nov. 9. The action will be streamed on ESPN+.