Jones leads St. Joe's past Rhode Island

KINGSTON, R.I. - Carl Jones scored a game-high 28 points as St. Joseph's utilized a pair of second-half rallies to beat Rhode Island, 80-69, in Atlantic Ten action Wednesday night.

C.J. Aiken backed up Jones with 18 points, while Langston Galloway added 16.

The scored was tied, 43-43, when the Hawks (17-10, 7-5) went on a 14-0 run which produced a 57-43 lead. Rhode Island (5-22, 2-10) countered with a 14-3 run of its own, but the Hawks had the last run which, in retrospect, was the one that mattered.

Langston buried a three-point shot that ignited a 12-0 run and gave the Hawks a 74-59 lead with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining.

Jones made sure the Rams did not creep closer when he twice sank both ends of a two-shot foul in the final minute.

Orien Outerbridge paced the Rams, whose three-game winning streak against the Hawks ended. At one stage in the first half, the Hawks looked like they would fly away and hide from the Rams as they built a 28-20 lead with Jones burying a three-point shot.

But, even though the Hawks outshot the Rams 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent in the half, Rhode Island still led, 38-36, at intermission due to contributions from a host of players, not the least of which was Outerbridge.

Outerbridge ignited a Rhode Island run by draining a three-pointer, and he capped it with 3.4 seconds remaining with a dunk.

Jones played a key role in the Hawks building their early lead as he drained a pair of threes and finished the half with 13 points.