GAME NOTES: The Rhode Island Rams take aim at a fourth straight win on Saturday when they welcome the George Washington Colonials to the Ryan Center for an Atlantic 10 showdown.

Rhode Island continued to thrive in A-10 play with a thrilling win on Wednesday, as a Gilvydas Biruta tip-in as time expired propelled the Rams to a 64-63 win over Fordham. Jared Terrell netted 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the win, while Biruta added 12 points and nine rebounds to help Rhode Island win for the sixth time in eight conference tilts.

With 14 wins through 19 games, URI is off to its best start since the 2009-10 season when it was 16-3 through 19 games.

George Washington also comes in with a 6-2 mark in the conference, but had a four-game winning streak stopped Tuesday with a lopsided 72-48 loss to the top team in the A-10, 14th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth.

It was only the Colonials' second loss in their last 10 overall outings.

GW has won its last four matchups with Rhode Island and leads the all-time series, 30-24.

URI typically struggles putting points on the board, as it has managed just 66.9 ppg on 46.3 percent shooting. Luckily, though, the Rams make up for it at the other end lead the league in scoring defense (57.2 ppg), field goal defense (.391) and 3-point defense (.273). In fact, the Rams are one of just eight teams nationally to rank among the top 50 in FG-percentage and FG- percentage defense. E.C. Matthews leads the way with 16.5 ppg, while connecting at a .424 clip. Hassan Martin is the team's only other double-digit scorer, as he checks in at 11.5 ppg and a team- high 7.2 rebounds per contest. Biruta, meanwhile, is a mainstay in the frontcourt with 9.2 ppg and 5.2 rpg.

Martin, who has 61 blocks on the season, including a school record 10 back on Jan. 22 against LaSalle, has been dealing with a foot issue, but was able to play 19 minutes against Fordham and should be in the lineup on Saturday.

Kethan Savage paced George Washington in the loss to VCU with 18 points and Joe McDonald had 11 in the defeat. The Colonials were actually within four points early in the second half, but missed 10 straight field-goal attempts at one point and fell behind by 18 with 12 minutes to play.

Patricio Garino had nine points and seven rebounds in the loss and paces the club in both scoring (13.4) and steals (41), while getting help from Savage (12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg), Kevin Larsen (10.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and McDonald (9.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.1 apg). As a result, the Colonials are putting up 68.5 ppg in hitting 44.7 percent of their total shots, while also logging favorable margins in both rebounding (+4.7) and turnovers (+0.6). The team's defensive stance is allowing foes to connect on only 39.7 percent of their field-goal attempts and 30.9 percent of their long-range launches in netting a meager 60.0 ppg.

The Colonials are also one of a only a dozen Division I teams to not allow an opponent to score more than 75 points in a game this season.

George Washington will be looking to rebound after its shellacking at the hands of VCU. It won't be easy, though, against a tough Rhode Island team that has been on a roll and has played very well at home. The homecourt edge might be just enough to get the Rams by in what should be a low-scoring affair.