Rhode Island 72, SMU 50

Dec 15, 2012, 04:37 pm

KINGSTON, R.I. -- Mike Powell made 3 of 3 from 3-point range, 7 of 7 from the foul line and scored 18 points to lead Rhode Island to a 72-50 victory against SMU on Saturday.

Andre Malone had 15 points, Nikola Malesevic 12 and Xavier Munford 11 for the Rams (3-8), who had been 1/3 at home.

Jalen Jones and Ryan Manuel scored 14 apiece for SMU (8-2), which had won three in a row.

Holding a 36-35 advantage 4:08 into the second half, Rhode Island scored six consecutive points and built the lead to 57-43 with 8:57 remaining on 3-pointers from Malesevic and Powell.

SMU trailed 29-27 at the break in a close first half in which the biggest lead was six points, 26-20 in the Rams' favor with 3:11 left.

SMU turned the ball over 22 times to Rhode Island's 11, and the Rams had 12 steals.