Rhode Island
Rhode Island basketball’s Sebastian Thomas plays the hero against George Mason. Here’s how
Sebastian Thomas leads URI past George Mason, 62-59
Sebastian Thomas makes a shot in the final seconds to lift the Rams over the Patriots at the Ryan Center on Jan. 4, 2025
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Saturday afternoon saw Sebastian Thomas add another chapter to what is becoming a remarkable personal story in this 2024-25 men’s college basketball season.
The former star at Bishop Hendricken and Providence native has been Mr. Clutch for the University of Rhode Island, and so it was again with George Mason in town for the home Atlantic 10 opener.
Thomas dribbled, faded and nailed an off-balance jumper along the right baseline with 0.9 seconds left to electrify the Ryan Center yet again. The Rams slipped past the Patriots, 62-59, in a game where they trailed for nearly 30 minutes.
URI opted not to use a timeout after inbounding with 11.7 seconds left, and Thomas took a backcourt handoff from Jamarques Lawrence up the right sideline. He waved off any potential screening action and attacked Brayden O’Connor 1-on-1, creating some daylight just before falling out of bounds.
Thomas floated a shot that caught nothing but net and drew a foul, a conventional three-point play that snapped a 59-59 tie.
“I knew we were going to get the last shot,” Thomas said. “I definitely wanted the ball. I think my teammates trust me with the ball.”
Thomas helped drop Providence and Temple in previous games with 3-point daggers inside the final minute. This bucket and the ensuing missed full-court heave by O’Conner allowed the Rams to bounce back from a wretched road loss at Duquesne on New Year’s Eve. URI faced a 12-point hole early after a third straight ineffective half of offense, but Thomas and a revamped lineup took command just in time to win a fifth straight league home opener.
“He’s the ultimate gamer right now,” URI coach Archie Miller said. “Confident. Bailed us out there.”
Thomas floated home a soft jumper in the lane with 2:58 left to make it a 56-54 game, the first lead for the Rams since the 12:31 mark of the opening half. URI generated a couple key defensive stops and received another bucket at a critical time from an unlikely source. Quentin Diboundje beat the shot clock with a jumper from the left elbow with 23.5 seconds to play, and the Rams opened a 59-56 advantage.
“That was all the coach, right?” Miller quipped. “I give him credit. He’s been on the back burner. It’s been a 50-50 tossup for a long time about how we incorporate him.”
O’Conner slashed off the left wing for a conventional three-point play to answer, but URI opted against calling a timeout after the made free throw. Miller already had Thomas on the ball and didn’t want George Mason to switch defenses in its huddle. It was a decision that ultimately helped the Rams match the 9-0 start in Kingston they enjoyed during a special 2017-18 campaign.
“Find a way to score so we can win the game,” Thomas said. “I’ve been in that position a few times this year, and it’s worked for me.”
URI (12-2, 1-1 Atlantic 10) grinded its way back even thanks to some defensive energy. David Green’s steal in the lane led to a Diboundje layup in transition down the left side with 4:30 to play. Javonte Brown’s blocked shot – one of his career-high six – sent Thomas down the left side for a layup that made it 54-54 with 3:53 left, and the Patriots (10-5, 1-1) were forced to use a timeout.
“The message at halftime wasn’t basketball as much as it was our togetherness – to shake us up,” Miller said. “We had to give each other more energy. We had to have a little bit of spirit.”
URI celebrates its comeback victory over George Mason at the Ryan Center
Sebastian Thomas makes a final-seconds shot and hits the free-throw to seal the Rams comeback over Atlantic 10 rival George Mason on Saturday afternoon
It was the first appearance for Diboundje since some late minutes in a Nov. 24 blowout of Charleston, as the Rams juggled their rotation after a 67-55 stinker against the Dukes. Miller went a step further in the second half, putting Tyonne Farrell on the bench for the final 15:46 and Cam Estevez alongside him for the last 10:13. Thomas, Lawrence, Diboundje, Green, Brown, Jaden House and David Fuchs were the primary seven who limited George Mason to 1-for-8 from 3-point range, cobbled together a 9-2 scoring advantage off nine turnovers and pressured the paint to the tune of a plus-11 margin in made free throws.
“We just had to get back to our basics – Rhode Island basketball,” Brown said. “Playing physical and moving side to side.”
URI was fortunate to trail by just nine at the break, suffering through a field goal drought of 10:23 and finding itself on the wrong end of a 15-0 run. Brown’s putback with 5:27 left earned a sarcastic cheer from a crowd of 5,803 fans, a gathering whose mood had turned 180 degrees by the stretch run. The Patriots finished just 9-for-18 from the stripe, including a 1-for-7 start to the second half.
“We really didn’t have any business winning that game for a long period in the first half,” Miller said. “It could have gotten away from us.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On X: @BillKoch25
“Temporary water use advisories will be posted where applicable and nearby residents and visitors should keep pets from drinking from these waters for at least three days,” the release said
The herbicide treatments target specific invasive aquatic plants, including variable water milfoil, fanwort, water chestnut, sacred lotus, and various algae species, according to the release.
Rhode Island
R.I. leading multi-state lawsuit against Trump administration housing policy – The Boston Globe
Rhode Island and other states had recently won a ruling against HUD’s attempt to overhaul a federal homelessness grant program in fiscal year 2025.
US District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy found that HUD acted arbitrarily and capriciously in imposing illegal conditions on billions of dollars in funding for the Continuum of Care program, through which HUD distributes billions of dollars to state, local, and nonprofit agencies to support housing and services for people facing homelessness.
For more than two decades, HUD had followed a “Housing First” model, which prioritizes rapid placement in permanent housing without requiring people to first meet conditions such as sobriety or a minimum income threshold.
However, on June 1, the Trump administration moved forward with new rules for fiscal year 2026 that seek to re-implement a cap on permanent housing. The new Notices of Funding Opportunity will set aside $1.3 billion for transitional housing and supportive service-only grants — which the coalition of states say will have the effect of capping permanent housing projects at about 68 percent of the funds.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the new terms on June 1, saying the old model didn’t work.
“The ‘housing first’ experiment failed Americans by warehousing the vulnerable without results. This ideology promised to end homelessness. Instead, billions of taxpayer dollars were spent while homelessness increased to record levels,” Turner said in a statement. “Housing alone will not solve a crisis driven by addiction and mental illness. Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD is making necessary reforms to put recovery first.”
HUD said that the new Notice of Funding Opportunity for $4.04 billion through the Continuum of Care homelessness assistance program would support organizations that facilitate treatment and recovery and “prohibit funding the widespread use of illicit drugs and distribution of paraphernalia.”
The lawsuit alleges that the new conditions will mean a large number of permanent housing projects funded by the Continuum of Care program will lose funding, which will lead to people being evicted, placing further strain on state and local governments.
“Instead of investing in programs that help people stay safe and housed, the Trump Administration has embraced policies that risk trapping people in poverty and punishing them for being poor,” the 44-page lawsuit alleges.
The shift threatens housing for at least 97,000 residents of CoC-funded permanent housing across the country according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The states argue that HUD’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act for failing to proceed with notice-and-comment rulemaking, and for being arbitrary and capricious. They ask the court to declare that the challenged conditions are illegal and to block HUD from implementing them.
Along with Neronha, attorneys general from all New England states except for New Hampshire have joined the lawsuit. The coalition also includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
(WJAR) — Thirty-two years ago was the commissioning of a Navy submarine named after the Ocean State.
Maria Stephanos was on board the USS Rhode Island on July 9, 1994.
Rhode Island was the Navy’s 15th Trident class ballistic submarine.
It was commissioned in Newport and was the first to be christened in its namesake state.
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