Tim Yean
Sports Editor
Two semifinal appearances in the Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament in Sam Ferry’s first two seasons head coach of the Anchormen showcases the resurgence the men’s basketball team has gone through since his hiring.
An improved-upon season from Ferry’s first year where his squad finished with a 15-12 overall record with a 7-9 conference finish, the Anchormen finished at 15-11 overall, going 10-6 in conference play to take on the tournament as the three-seed. While they swept through UMass Dartmouth at home 80-64, they were unable to hold off Western Connecticut State in the semifinal game at WestConn, as they lost 81-68 in an overtime comeback win for the Wolves.
Eight players returned from last year's roster heading into the 2024-25 season including forward Ousmane Kourouma, who returned to RIC for a fifth year. Multiple guards returned as well including Cameron Wilson, CJ Wilson, Isaiah Dahl, and Deshawn Tengbeh, all of whom saw consistent minutes throughout this season, CJ Wilson and Tengbeh as consistent parts of the starting lineup. Sophomore Mike Paquette also returned, seeing time as a reserve.
Key additions included Dwayne Robinson-O’Hagan, a guard from Franklin Pierce University that returned home to play for the Anchormen. His highlight of the season– a game-winning layup to down the LEC’s top team Keene State in a 67-66 win over the Owls at home. Loudon Chupas transferred from American International College and became a regular in the starting five. Sophomore guard/forward Xavier Mendez saw his usage trend upward throughout the season. Freshman Jalen Claude saw minutes off the bench.
After a 3-5 start, Rhode Island College found rhythm following an overtime win at UMass Boston to speed away to a 10-1 run in the middle of the season, their lone loss being in their first matchup at Keene State in a 101-87 defeat. The Anchormen mid-season run would end with a 2-5 finish to close out the regular season, five of those games being decided through single-digit margins (2-3 during said single-digit games).
Kourouma and Tengbeh became 1,000-point scorers during the season, with Kourouma also nabbing his 1,000th rebound of his collegiate career. Kourouma earned his 1,000th point in a 79-69 win at Johnson & Wales University and his 1,000th rebound in the season-opener loss at Worcester State. Tengbeh notched his 1,000th-point ball in a win at Plymouth State 79-74.
Kourouma was the X-Factor for Rhode Island College leading the team in minutes (35.4 minutes per game) and averaging 18.4 ppg (fifth in the LEC). Most impressive for Kourouma though: he was not only the LEC’s top rebounder but the top rebounder in NCAA D-III play with his 15.8 rebounds per game. He also finished as the LEC’s top shot-blocker averaging 2.1 blocks per game (22nd in NCAA D-III).
Robinson-O’Hagan returned to Rhode Island second in scoring for the Anchormen with his 15.2 ppg mark also landing in the top ten in the LEC, also being second to the team in assists averaging 3.5 per game. CJ Wilson was the team’s top passer with 3.7 per game. Tengbeh rounded out the top three with his 2.6 assists per game mark. Mendez was second in rebounding for the team with 5.8 per game. Dahl was the top perimeter shooter for the Anchormen, averaging just over 2 threes per game connecting on 39.2% of his attempts.
The Anchormen were the LEC’s top team in rebounding, a 44.6 per game team average compared to second-place WestConn who averaged 39 per game. The team finished third in conference in assists and blocks.
Compared to the rest of the LEC, the Anchormen finished middle-of-the-pack offensively and defensively, ranking sixth of nine in the LEC (76.6 ppg for) and fifth (77.7 ppg against) respectively to actually end up with a negative point margin (-1.1) which ranked in the bottom three of the LEC, only UMass Boston and Vermont State University Castleton finishing worse.
The Anchormen boasted a 10-3 record at home (best since the 2021-22 season), they finished 6-8 in away matchups, a two-win downgrade from head coach Ferry’s first year. Free throw shooting was also intriguing. While they were second in attempts with 626, they finished dead-last in the conference in converting those opportunities, just 57.5% of them made.
Even still, a strong season overall for the Anchormen. Even with the likely losses of Kourouma, O’Hagan, and Tengbeh, there’s many returning faces for next season. With Ferry’s first two years in the LEC leading to improvement, the Anchormen look to stay on top next season as they become one of the tougher teams to beat in the conference.
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