University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
No. 22 WAKE FOREST
Strong Defense Not Enough To Overcome No. 22 Wake Forest
12/22/2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2005
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - No. 22 Wake Forest held off a second-half rally by Richmond for a 47-40 victory Thursday night.
"I'm very pleased with our effort," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "That was one of the best teams in the country that came in and I thought we played well. We just didn't play well enough or energized enough early and I think that proved a little too much to overcome."
The Demon Deacons (9-2) struggled against the stingiest defense in Division I, shooting just 30 percent against the Spiders' matchup zone. Richmond has held all 10 of its opponents under 60 points and entered the game giving up just 51.3 per game.
"Our defense has been a constant and has been very good and necessary for us," Mooney said. "Our offensive struggles continued in the first half and our defense kept us around so that we could really make a game of it."
Richmond came back from a 17-point first-half deficit to tie the game late in the second half and only trailed by three (43-40) in the final minute before Wake's Justin Gray connected on 4-of-4 free throws down the stretch.
Gray scored 21 points and Eric Williams added 13 to lead Wake Forest. Richmond sophomore Oumar Sylla had nine points, including three 3-pointers for the Spiders.
Richmond was 2-of-17 from the field over the first 16:29 as Wake Forest built a 21-4 lead with the help of a four-point play by Gray and a three-point play by Michael Drum. But Richmond closed the half with a 10-0 run to make it 21-14 at the break.
Richmond tied the game at 34 on a 3-pointer by Sylla with just over six minutes left, but two free throws put Wake ahead to stay.
Williams hit both ends of a 1-and-1 before Sylla hit another 3 to cut the lead to 38-37. Richmond's Jermaine Bucknor, who was only 1-of-13 from the field, missed a 3-pointer that would have put the Spiders ahead. Gray then hit a 3 to make it 41-37.
Trent Strickland hit two free throws for Wake, but a 3-pointer by Drew Crank of Richmond made it 43-40.
Richmond returns to action on Dec. 27 at Tulane in the first men's college or professional sporting event to be played in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
