The Season in Review: Ed Croswell Answers the Bell vs. URI
Following a statement win against Texas Tech, Providence had a clear path to closing out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a record of 10-1.
The road before them included three games in which the Friars should win, but with a rivalry game against Rhode Island followed up by a good Vermont team three days later, nothing was a given.
As is typically the case, there were some hurt feelings heading into the URI game, only this year it was ramped up a little bit more.
A year prior, both schools announced that they had mutually agreed not to play during the pandemic-shortened season, yet URI head coach David Cox made it abundantly clear that he felt as though Providence was dodging his group.
“I can’t answer for them,” Cox said when asked about the cancelled game. “I know that we made every effort to play the game. I guess I’ll leave it at that.”
Then, Cox turned to his Twitter account and a little social media dustup ensued:
The last time these two programs played came back on December 6, 2019 with Fatts Russell scoring 24 points in Rhode Island’s 76-61 victory over the Friars at the Ryan Center.
A few years prior, Ed Cooley had downplayed the idea of a rival coming from outside of the Big East when asked about PC and URI’s history. Following the Rams’ win in 2019, Russell poked some fun at PC asking, “Do you guys think it’s a rivalry?” as he departed the postgame press conference.
With that, it’s almost time to get to basketball, but before we do, let’s delve into one final subplot.
The 2021-22 Rams (6-2 heading into their matchup with PC) started a pair of 6’10 twins in Makhi and Makhel Mitchell. To make a long story short, the Mitchells visited Providence before committing to URI a few months later. Around the same time, the Friars got a commitment from La Salle transfer Ed Croswell.
The Mitchells’ mother (an active social media contributor prior to the PC/URI game) essentially said the Friar staff would have preferred to have the Mitchells over Croswell (Croswell announced his transfer to PC in late March, the Mitchells committed to URI ten days later). This drew ire, and some skepticism, from Providence fans.
It also may have lit a fire under Croswell.
At that point of the season, there seemed to be no harm in poking the bear. Croswell had been a bit player up until he helped turned the game around against Texas Tech with 11 points and six rebounds, while shooting 5-5 from the field. The Friars had no answers for Tech’s defense early, until Croswell went to work on the offensive glass to keep them afloat.
The Texas Tech win helped establish Croswell’s role throughout the season — a tone-setter who crashed the offensive glass, finished well on screen and rolls, and instilled an added layer of toughness to the Providence frontcourt. A team that was supposed to be so Nate Watson-reliant eventually had a backup who made it so that there was little drop off when Watson was taken out of the game.
Croswell may not have heard the chatter prior to the URI game (which seems unlikely), but he certainly played like he caught every word of it. He finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, while shooting 5-6 from the field and 3-3 at the free throw line in a 66-52 Providence victory. He was the biggest reason why PC held a 45-30 advantage on the glass.
“Ed Croswell, once again, had a cape on,” Ed Cooley said of Croswell after the win. Cooley also provided him with a new nickname. “Croswell Cleaners. He came in and cleaned up everything off the glass.”
The Friars led by as many as 17 points in front of a raucous Dunkin Donuts Center crowd. Between the Texas Tech and URI games, the bar had been set for Friar fans going forward. It eventually became a bar that continued rising with each passing win.
“It just was electric the whole time,” Cooley said of the fan support. “If our building is like this night in and night out, we are going to be a really hard team to beat.”
Rhode Island cut the 17-point lead to six at 52-46 with 7:29 remaining, but Noah Horchler knocked down a pair of clutch 3-pointers to help Providence take control over the final five minutes.
Horchler’s emergence as a late-game sniper was another reason why this team would eventually find success throughout the 2021-22 campaign. AJ Reeves had proven himself to be money in the clutch throughout his career, Durham was turning into the team’s closer, Horchler started making big threes late, while the sidelined Jared Bynum would later emerge as another closing option teams had to account for.
By the time Al Durham found Justin Minaya on a lob with 2:15 left, PC led 64-50, and all was well in Friartown.
Horchler (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Al Durham (14 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds) joined Croswell as double figure scorers for a Friar team that fought through some scoring droughts.
Providence’s bench was great, combining to shoot 8-12 from the field, while both Mitchell brothers struggled with foul trouble and had little impact (playing 18 minutes apiece).
With an 8-1 record following the win over URI, Providence had to have been feeling great about themselves, but Cooley knew a stiff test awaited just a few days later with Vermont coming to town.
Vermont and Central Connecticut State were the only teams standing in the way of 10-1 to non-conference play, and the Friars were about to get a big lift from one of their veterans.
These posts are great. Hoping you have the time to get through the whole season before 22-23 starts!