A balanced scoring effort – four different players reached double figures – was the ultimate key as Rhode Island ran its Rising Star Summer Basketball League record to 3-0 with a smooth 58-37 win over UConn on Friday, July 28.

Pat Armstrong led the way with 17 points while Ryan Davies and John Oliver chipped in with 11 apiece. Adam Miller canned 10 along the way as the Rams took advantage of a short-handed UConn team to pull away in the second half.

UConn was within six at the half, 29-23, before Rhode Island turned on the gas. Pat Coakley led UConn with eight points as everyone got into the scoring column. Wes Steinfeld, Jay Morrissey, Scott Kohn, and Kyle Kirch all played well.

In other action last Friday (a date saved for one of three rainouts the league has suffered early in the season), the Boston College Eagles went to 1-1 on the season with a thrilling, 42-39 win over the UMass Minutemen.

It might have been the offense – with three players scoring in double figures – that did the trick, but most likely it was the defense holding UMass’ Marcus Tracy to just 11 points that was the difference in this one. Earlier this season, Tracy set a new league-scoring mark of better than 40 points in a loss to Rhode Island (eclipsing a mark set by Mike Troy last year).

For Boston College, Kevin Quinn canned 11 points while Matt Tavella and Kyle Hastedt added 10 points apiece. Pete Dittmar chipped in with eight. Quinn played marvelous defense on Tracy and Tom Wilson snatched four steals in the win. Hastedt completed a nice double-double with 10 rebounds on the night.

For UMass, Stephan Lamb added 13 points and 15 rebounds for his own double-double. Brett Eastman and Scott Forstrom scored nine points apiece while Tracy canned 11. UMass put itself in a hole, scoring just one point in the second quarter, but did rally to tie the score with two minutes to play.

Tracy had six steals in the loss. UMass fell to 1-2.

Also on Friday, Providence went to 1-1 on the season with a 39-37 win over St. John’s. Christian Power scored a game-high 12 points and had the game-winning layup with seven seconds left on the clock. The layup followed Chris Giorno’s three-point play with 18 seconds remaining that knotted the score at 37-37.

Tyler Law and Mayy Eriquez scored six points apiece while Andy Eriquez played solid defense and Anthony Perez pulled down eight rebounds.

For St. John’s, which fell to 0-2, Austin Samsell scored 12 points and John Kostecki added eight. Tim Kerr supplied some great hustle on defense, diving for loose balls and getting his hands on many passes. James Wilkins and Alex Caruso also had fine games.

In action on July 24, Rhode Island defeated UMass, 64-57, despite Tracy’s heroic scoring effort. Pat Armstrong canned 19 points and John_Oliver pulled down 13 rebounds. Ryan Davies scored 14 points,_Adam Miller added 12 and Matt DeLuca chipped in with nine.

Tracy nearly pulled it off single-handedly for UMass, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to knot the score at 55-55. Mike LaPerch, Brett Eastman and Emil_Walston all played well for UMass, especially in the crucial 13-point rally in the third quarter.

In one other contest, Boston College defeated Providence, 49-43, as Tom Wilson scored 11 points and Kyle Hastedt pulled down 13 rebounds. Hastedt also scored 10 points.

For Providence, Christian Power scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Andy Eriquez scored 13 points and played solid defense.