Atlantic 10 Basketball power rankings: UMass tumbles while Dayton soars up

5. Rhode Island Rams – 12-4 (3-1)

The Rams were out of sight for a while, going almost a month between D-I games. They came back from a pause on the road at Davidson and gave them their toughest league fight yet. They had a shot to win it late but Rhode Island fell by four points in the end.

But this team has rebounded in a nice way since, starting out with an 11-point victory over St. Joseph’s, led by 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists from Jeremy Sheppard. Big man Makhel Mitchell took on a starring role in the team’s 81-68 road victory over UMass, going for 20 points on 10/15 shooting.

The winning streak looked like it would end this week at home to La Salle down by eight points at halftime. But Rhode Island was able to muster up enough offense to steal the game at the end to win 56-54. It was truly a balanced effort for the team, with no one scoring more than 10 points but seven different Rams scoring at least six in the win.

And that’s been how Rhode Island has won its games, with a balanced offensive effort. And now at 3-1, they have a shot at finishing in the top-4 of the standings and securing a double-bye for the conference tournament. They look to continue winning at home against George Washington and Richmond.