Saint Joseph's 90, Rhode Island 83

2/24/2008 8:28 PM

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) -Darrin Govens had 18 points and three rebounds, while Rob Ferguson added 17 points and 6 rebounds to help St. Joseph's beat Rhode Island, 90-83, in Atlantic 10 action Sunday.

The victory gave St. Joseph's (17-8, 8-4 Atlantic 10) sole possession of second place in the league.

Will Daniels scored a game-high 24 points and Parfait Bitee added 19 as Rhode Island (20-8, 6-7 A 10) lost their fourth straight game, and fifth in the last six.

The Rams jumped to an 11-10 lead with just under 15 minutes left in the first half. A Daniels three-point field goal gave Rhode Island a 24-23 advantage with 7:43 left, but St. Joseph's fought back to take a 44-33 lead at halftime.

The Hawks twice expanded their lead to 19 points in the second half, but Rhode Island fought to as close as five, at 88-83, after a Bitee three-point goal with 21 seconds on the clock.

Rhode Island shot 50 percent from the floor and outrebounded St. Joseph's, 29-25. The Hawks, however, connected on 62.2 percent.