University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
SAINT LOUIS
Men's Basketball Stops Saint Louis 65-54 For Third-Straight Win
01/18/2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Senior Jermaine Bucknor scored a career-high 24 points, while fellow senior Kevin Steenberge made a career-high four 3-pointers on his way to 18 points in the University of Richmond's 65-54 victory over Saint Louis on Wednesday night in the Robins Center.
The win was Richmond's third-straight and fifth victory in the last six games as the Spiders improved to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Richmond led by as many as 15 points in the first half, Saint Louis (8-8, 2-2 Atlantic 10) came back to take a three-point lead midway through the second half, but the Spiders regained control and led by as many as 12 in the final minutes.
"Tonight's first half was probably the best offensive first half of our season," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "The second half we went on a long drought, but we were able to stay in the game because our defense was good. Our defense was solid both halves, and it was difficult for Saint Louis to get the shots they wanted. We showed some toughness there at the end and played pretty well."
Bucknor made three 3-pointers and Steenberge made 4-of-6 from behind the arc - all from the top of the key - as the seniors accounted for seven of Richmond's season-high 10 3-pointers. Steenberge also tied a career-high with four assists and five blocks.
"The baskets Kevin Steenberge was making for us at the top of the key were very big for us," Mooney said. "He and Jermaine (Bucknor) played very well for us. That is what we need."
Richmond led 30-15 with four minutes to play in the first half, looking like they were ready to cruise to their third-straight victory, but Saint Louis closed the first half with an 8-2 run to trail 32-23 at the break. The Billikens then opened the second half on a 10-2 spurt to give them a combined 18-4 run over 11 minutes and pull within one point at 34-33 with 12:51 to play.
Bucknor came up with a steal and a fast-break dunk to give Richmond a 37-33 lead, but Saint Louis center Ian Vouyoukas scored to cut the gap to one point again and then Danny Brown buried a 3-pointer to give the Billikens their first lead of the game at 38-36 with 10:08 left.
Bucknor made two free throws, but Brown sank another 3-pointer to open up a 41-38 advantage with 9:10 to play. Bucknor made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a two-point game with eight minutes left, but the Billikens looked like they had taken the momentum away from the Spiders.
Enter Steenberge, who had already sunk two 3-pointers in the first half. The 6-foot-11 center found himself open twice in the span of three possessions at the top of the key and both times he found nothing but the bottom of the net as the Spiders quickly regained the lead at 45-43.
"They weren't coming out at all on (me), so I figured I might as well keep shooting them," Steenberge said. "It is nice to have the freedom to do it and actually execute and make them."
Junior Peter Thomas made it three out of four trips with a trey when he sank a 3-pointer from a few feet beyond the arc as Richmond opened up a 48-43 advantage.
A pair of free throws by Bucknor made it 50-43 with 3:49 to play and all of a sudden Saint Louis found itself needing to foul and prevent Richmond from running the clock down. The Spiders made 14-of-16 free throws from the 3:49 mark until 1:03 remained as their lead reached as high as 12. Saint Louis did connect on three 3-pointers in the final 1:36 of the game to make it interesting, but the Billikens could not get the lead back below eight points.
The Billikens were led by Anthony Drejaj with 14 points. Vouyoukas added 12, and Kevin Lisch 11.
Richmond will hit the road to face Rhode Island on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Rams are 9-6 overall and also have a 3-1 record in conference play.
