University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
La Salle (A-10 Tourney)
Richmond Rolls; Defeats La Salle, 68-60
03/08/2002 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2002
By JONATHAN POET
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA - Reggie Brown scored 20 and Jeff Myers added 18 as Richmond beat La Salle 68-60 in an Atlantic 10 semifinal Friday.
Richmond (19-12) becomes only the second team in Atlantic 10 history to win a berth in the final in its first year in the league. The Spiders will play Xavier, winners over Dayton, on Saturday.
After trailing the entire game, La Salle (15-17) finally tied it at 53 with Rasual Butler's drive at 5:47. Richmond added three free throws, but both teams went cold, missing every shot until Myers knocked down a 3 with 1:59 to go.
After Reggie Okosa cut the lead to four, Ungerer knocked down a 3-pointer to give Richmond a 62-57 lead. Richmond sealed it with six free throws in the final minute.
Rasual Butler led all scorers with 28 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds. Okosa finished with 17 points and eight boards. Julian Blanks added 12.
Taking advantage of La Salle's three missed shots and three straight turnovers, Richmond extended its lead to 15 to open the second half. But La Salle came back, getting the hometown crowd behind them on a 16-5 run in which Butler scored 10 points.
Richmond led by as much as 11 before La Salle scored eight straight points in a 9-3 run in the closing moments. Richmond led 29-24 at the half.
Mike Cleaves, who scored 28 in La Salle's quarterfinal win over Temple, was held scoreless on 0-for-11 shooting.
Scott Ungerer had 11 for Richmond.
