URI guard Marquis Jones, who scored a career-high 15 points, reacts after being called for his fifth foul, during the second half of last night’s game against Oklahoma State in the O’Reilly All-College Basketball Classic at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.

AP / Sue Ogrocki

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A game built around speed and athleticism by the URI and Oklahoma State basketball teams was decided last night when the players were standing around and watching.

Watching free throws being made, that is.

Oklahoma State made 11 straight from the line in the final 3:29 to outlast the Rams, 86-82, in the O’Reilly All-College Basketball Classic at the Ford Center.

Two teams that love to run and gun did what they like to do. They went up and down all night, with each putting on several runs and each taking turns with the lead. They were last tied at 73 with 4:20 left when foul shooting became the deciding factor.

Rhode Island had a chance to take the lead when Keith Cothran was fouled with 4:09 remaining. But he missed the front end of a one-and-one.

From there, the Cowboys made only one field goal. They won it because they made their foul shots — 11 in a row. Point guard Byron Eaton had seven of the free throws, giving him 22 points, all in the second half. James Anderson also made two, giving him a career-high 33 for the game.

Rhode Island, now 8-4, had five players in double figures — Kahiem Seawright with 17, Jimmy Baron 16, Marquis Jones a career-high 15, Keith Cothran 14 and Delroy James 10 off the bench.

URI shot 50 percent from the field and was 11-for-14 from the foul line. Oklahoma State, 8-3, shot 47 percent and was 19-for-22 from the line.

In the end, the point guards were pivotal. Eaton, a ruggedly built 5-11 senior who came in averaging 11.9 points, picked up his second foul with 10:31 left in the first half. He had not scored to that point. As so many coaches do, Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford sat him down for the rest of the half.

Jones, URI’s sophomore point guard, took advantage. He had 15 first-half points, more than he has had in any full game in his career. Rhody led, 44-38, at the break.

“Marquis really played terrific,” said Rhody coach Jim Baron. “He was making shots and making plays. But then he got in foul trouble.”

Jones fouled out trying to stop Eaton, who loves to take the ball to the basket, in the second half.

“Eaton was the difference,” Baron said. “He really took the ball to the bucket.”

Eaton was 10-for-12 from the foul line.

Even with Eaton and Anderson playing well for the Cowboys, URI was even going into the final four minutes

“We were playing well,” said Jimmy Baron. “But we did have some costly fouls toward the end. We’ve got to do a better job defending.”

“I think we played well,” agreed Seawright, the other co-captain. “But we didn’t play well enough.”

“We’re real close,” coach Baron said, “but I told our guys we’ve got to keep working to get better.”

The two running teams came out doing what they do best from the start. It made for a game that was divided into patterns.

Seawright had the first run. He had nine early points, leading the Rams to an 11-6 lead. The Cowboys responded by running off 10 straight points to go up, 16-11, as they took advantage of three Rhody turnovers in four possessions.

It was tied at 16 when Oklahoma State’s 3-point shooting moved into the spotlight. The Cowboys made four in a row, split up by one 2-pointer by Keiton Page, as they built at 32-22 lead. URI trailed, 36-30, with three minutes left in the half when Jones turned in perhaps his best stretch in a Rhody uniform. He had eight points, on two 3-pointers and two fee throws, as the Rams ran off 14 straight points.

Rhody was up by six at the break. The Cowboys scored the first seven points of the second half to go ahead by one. They had small leads for much of the second half before a 3-pointer by Baron tied it at 73 and set up the finish, when the running pretty much stopped, the whistles blew more often and the Cowboys made the free throws to win it.