University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Duquesne
Men's Basketball Stops Duquesne, 55-51
01/26/2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2002
Listen to Coach John Beilein on the postgame radio show.
Listen to junior center Johnathan Collins on the postgame radio show.
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - University of Richmond junior Johnathan Collins (Norfok, Va./Ryan Academy) dominated the post with eight points and a career-high nine rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Spiders in a 55-51 win against Duquesne in Atlantic 10 action at the Robins Center on Saturday night.
The Spiders (10-9, 4-2 A-10) overcame a three-point halftime deficit to capture the four-point win. Sophomore Mike Skrocki (Howell, N.J./Christian Brothers) netted a game-high 18 points, on 6-of-16 shooting, and junior Reggie Brown (Flushing, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) also scored in double figures (11) to pace the offense. Duquesne was led by Kevin Forney's season-high 16 points.
In a tight defensive struggle, Richmond scored the game's first bucket but then relinquished the lead (at 18:47) and played from behind the rest of the half. Skrocki scored the Spiders' first eight points of the second half and his triple at 17:13 gave Richmond its first lead since early in the game, 31-29. After Duquesne's Wayne Smith tied the game at the charity stripe, Skrocki buried another trey to put the home squad ahead 34-31 with 16 minutes to play.
The visiting Dukes clawed their way back into the contest and at 9:07 took a 46-44 lead on a Brad Midley layup. Richmond struggled through a 9:48 stretch where they didn't score a field goal (13:13 to 3:25 of second half). During that stretch, Duquesne's lead increased to as much as five before the Spider defense put on its clamps and sparked the victory.
Duquesne (5-13, 0-7 A-10) did not score over the final 5:16. During that span, Collins banked home a six-footer jumper and added a free throw to pull Richmond within two, 51-49, at 3:25. After a Tony Dobbins (Mitchellville, Md./Va. Tech) and Skrocki free throw that tied the contest, Brown converted a finger roll, created from a Dobbins steal, with just 33 seconds to play. Richmond nailed two free throws down the stretch for the final tally.
Richmond returns to action for the second-game of this three-game homestand, against George Washington at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30 in the Robins Center.
