GAME NOTES: The first round of the National Invitational Tournament rolls through Rhode Island as the third-seeded Rams take on the sixth-seeded Iona Gaels Tuesday at the Ryan Center.

The winner moves on to the second round of the tournament to face either second-seeded Stanford or seventh-seeded UC Davis.

Iona earned the automatic bid to the NIT after winning the regular-season title in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. But the Gaels fell short in the league tournament championship game with a 79-69 defeat at the hands of Manhattan. This is Iona's sixth trip to the NIT, as the Gaels bring a 1-5 record into the bracket.

Rhode Island earned an at-large bid to the NIT after finishing the season at 22-9 with a 56-52 loss to Dayton in the semifinal round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Rams were last in the NIT back in 2010, when they fell to North Carolina in overtime in the semifinal round. URI brings a 13-15 all-time NIT record into this year's bracket.

This game will be the 12th all-time between Iona and Rhode Island. The series has so far been dominated by the Rams, who own an 8-3 advantage.

Iona entered the championship game of the MAAC Tournament as the clear-cut favorite to defeat Manhattan and earn the league's auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. But the Jaspers, who won the league title in 2014 as well, had other plans. The Gaels did everything they could, and got a huge 24-point, 10- rebound and five-assists performance out of David Laury. Kelvin Amayo added a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Schadrac Casimir and A.J. English each chipped in 10 points in the loss.

English and Laury are the two top contributors to an Iona offense that is netting an impressive 79.6 ppg on 46.8 percent shooting. English leads the team with 19.9 ppg, followed very closely by Laury's 19.6 ppg effort. Casimir (14.8 ppg) and Isaiah Williams (13.9 ppg) contribute to Iona's scoring offense with double-digit averages. But defense has been a key issue for the Gaels, who allow opponents to net 72.8 ppg in 34 contests.

Rhode Island and Dayton had met just 11 days prior to their A-10 semifinal match on Saturday, and the result was not what the Rams were hoping for. Saturday's tournament clash was much more contentious, as the teams went into halftime knotted at 24 points apiece. It was the Flyers who were the stronger team in the second half, limiting the Rams to 35 percent shooting from the floor to end URI's hopes of a tournament title. E.C. Matthews netted 16 points in the loss, while Gilvydas Biruta added 14 points and nine rebounds. The Rams did go a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line in the contest.

The young Rams showed they can compete throughout the season, and will need those youthful players to do some damage in this year's NIT to be successful. Matthews, a sophomore, leads the team in scoring at 16.7 ppg, followed closely by fellow sophomore Hassan Martin's 11.4 ppg. Martin was a beast defensively throughout the 2014-15 campaign, leading the team in blocked shots with 93 and owning a team-best rebounding mark of 7.6 boards per outing. The Rams head into the NIT netting 67.1 ppg, with a strong defensive effort limiting opponents to just 59.3 ppg.

Iona will need that sometimes overpowering offense to score at will against the Rams, although Rhode Island's talented defense, led by Martin, will have other ideas. At home, the Rams were 13-2 this season with losses to A-10 champion VCU and NCAA Tournament-bound Davidson. Iona won't scare the Rams.