University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Rhode Island
Richmond Downs Rhode Island, 68-60, In The Opening Game Of The 2005 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship
03/09/2005 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2005
CINCINNATI, OH - Junior Kevin Steenberge scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and forward Jermaine Bucknor added 17 off the bench as Richmond overcame a nine-point second half deficit to defeat Rhode Island, 68-60, in the opening game of the 2005 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the USBank Arena.
Richmond (14-14) moves on to face top-seed Saint Joseph's on Thursday afternoon at 12:00p.m.
Steenberge scored seven points in the opening 4:12, including a pair of ally-oop dunks, as Richmond jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. Rhode Island stormed back and took its first lead of the game at 19-16 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Parfait Bitee with 4:18 remaining. The Rams closed out the half on a 21-5 run and held a 30-21 lead at the intermission, led by freshman Will Daniels' 11 points off the bench.
A layup by forward Scott Hazelton at the 17:25 mark gave URI a 34-25 advantage before the Spiders answered with three-point baskets by Bucknor and freshman guard Andres Sandoval and regained the lead for good on a Steenberge layup at the 10:15 to go. A pair of foul shots by forward Gaston Moliva pushed Richmond's lead to 56-46 at the 5:02 mark before three-point field goals by Daniels and junior Tyrese Sullivan pulled Rhode Island to within 61-58 with 53 seconds remaining. However, Sandoval made four foul shots down the stretch to seal the Spiders win.
"I thought our kids showed tremendous energy in the second half," said Richmond head coach Jerry Wainwright.
We're obviously very happy we won."
Sandoval added 10 points and five boards for the Spiders, which shot just under 55 percent (12-for-22) in the second half. The loss overshadowed a strong performance by Daniels, who paced Rhode Island (6-22) with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
"He [Daniels] had a terrific first half and we had to regroup defensively," said Wainwright.
