Three points: Berry surprise star for Rams in win over Dayton Flyers

If sophomore Andre Berry wasn’t in the scouting report for the Dayton Flyers, there’s a good reason.

Berry, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound Rhode Island forward, had appeared in 12 games. He averaged 1.6 points in 5.3 minutes. He had scored 19 points all season.

Yet Berry is a big reason Rhode Island beat Dayton 75-66 on Saturday at UD Arena. He more than doubled his career high of seven points with 15 on 7-of-7 shooting.

“We were able to find him on the pick and rolls because they were hedging so hard,” Rhode Island guard Jared Terrell said. “We knew he was able to get free. We know he’s worked so hard from the summertime when he first got here. It’s been a struggle for him. But he’s been handling it and he’s been pushing through. The guys are just proud of him. When somebody’s shining like that, you’ve just got to appreciate him.”

Here are three more key points from this game:

1. No answers: Charles Cooke scored 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and made 2-of-5 3-pointers. After the game, he had a hard time explaining the team's problems.

“I don’t know. We’ve just got to play better, play harder,” Cooke said. “We had some competitive practices. We just lost the game. It’s plain and simple. However we lost it, I don’t know. I was in the game, but we’ve just got to get better and keep working and looking forward to the next game.”

2. Late run: The Flyers trailed 65-46 with six minutes remaining and then made their one big push to get back in the game. A 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Kyle Davis, cut the deficit to 65-58 with 3:15 to play.

Rhode Island’s Four McGlynn ended the spurt with a 3-pointer at the 2:46 mark. Full-court pressure defense energized the Flyers during that stretch, but it was too little too late.

“To be down 19 points with six minutes to go in our arena, that hasn’t happened to our team maybe ever or in a long time,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said, “and we have veteran guys. You have guys out there who have been through a lot of games. It’s an odd dynamic. I’ll also tell you this, you’ve just got to keep showing up. If you keep showing up, you’ve got a chance to get good things going again.”

3. Big picture: Dayton wasn't the only team in the top half of the A-10 standings to be upset last week.

First-place VCU lost at 13th-place George Mason on Wednesday but bounced back with a 69-65 victory at George Washington on Saturday. George Mason followed its big victory with a 76-68 loss at last-place La Salle on Saturday. Sixth-place Davidson lost 91-81 at Fordham on Saturday.

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