Imhotep’s Fatts Russell scores 41 points to lift Rhode Island over St. Joseph’s in overtime

For Fatts Russell, there’s nothing better than playing in his hometown of Philadelphia, and he certainly showed that Tuesday night in the highest-scoring game of his career at Rhode Island.

The 5-foot-10 sophomore from Imhotep Charter dazzled the crowd at Hagan Arena with a career-high 41 points, including the Rams’ last 19 of the game in the final 6 minutes, 35 seconds of regulation and overtime, to lift the visitors to an 86-85 Atlantic 10 victory over St. Joseph’s.

Russell made 12 of 24 shots from the field, including 7 of 13 from three-point range, to go with 10 free throws in 16 tries en route to the most points scored by an A-10 player this season. He said he did not know he had scored 19 in a row – 10 in regulation, nine in the extra period – for the Rams (15-14, 8-9).

“I was just trying to win the game,” said Russell, who had about 40 family members and friends at the game. “I wasn’t aware, honestly. My goal the whole time just was to win, if that was scoring, getting an assist, or just being a decoy.

“Oh, man, it’s amazing. All my family was here, so that gave me a little extra push. It’s always amazing to come back to Philly and play.”

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Hawks (13-17, 6-11), who lost their third one-point game of the season in the A-10.

Charlie Brown, the conference’s leading scorer, sat out 11 minutes of the second half in foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 13 points. Senior Chris Clover, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, picked up his fifth personal on a technical foul with 5 minutes, 51 seconds to play.

St. Joseph’s led the game for almost 30 minutes, including a 73-67 advantage with 1:47 left in regulation. But Russell got hot, making both ends of a one-and-one, a three-pointer, another two free throws and the game-tying trey with 5.5 seconds left that made it 77-all.

“At one point this year he was shooting 18 percent from three … and he goes 7-for-13,” Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. “He plays with great joy and he played with a lot of energy. We knew it, Philadelphia kids coming home play really well, but not to 41. I don’t know if I’ve ever had anybody against my teams get that kind of number.”

The Hawks held two leads in overtime, but Russell’s three-ball with 1:50 left gave the Rams the lead for good. Russell missed four free throws in the final 27 seconds to give St. Joe’s one last chance, but Lamarr Kimble’s half-court heave was off target at the buzzer.

Freshman Jared Bynum led the Hawks with 19 points and Kimble, who shot just 2-of-15, added 13.

“The problem with losing like this is that the punch lasts a long time,” Martelli said.