University of Richmond
CHARLOTTE
Men's Basketball Tops Charlotte, 63-56
01/28/2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2006
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond men's basketball team never trailed and led by as many as 10 points in a 63-56 win over Charlotte on Saturday night before 5,729 fans in the Robins Center.
Richmond won for the fourth time in the last five games and the sixth time in eight contests to improve to 11-8 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders are tied for third place in the conference and will play at Fordham on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte (11-8, 4-3 Atlantic 10), which has made the NCAA Tournament seven of the last nine years, was picked to finish second in the conference's preseason poll and had won six-straight road games.
"This was a great win for us. Charlotte is a national program that's been extremely successful, and they are a great team on the road," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "I thought we played great offensively in the first half. We struggled at the beginning of the second half, but even when we were struggling, they weren't able to go on a run."
Senior Jermaine Bucknor tied a career high with five 3-pointers - for the third time this season - and scored 23 points to lead three Spiders in double figures.
"Bucknor is phenomenal," Richmond junior Peter Thomas said. "Big players make big plays. We just run our offense, and he always seems to make those big shots."
Senior Kevin Steenberge scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds, had a career-high five assists and three steals, and blocked three shots. Sophomore Oumar Sylla scored a career-high 10 points and dished out four assists.
The Spiders used a 14-6 run midway through the first half to take a 26-18 lead and enjoyed a 32-26 advantage at the half. The game remained close for most of the second half, but the Spiders opened up a 49-40 lead after two free throws by Steenberge with 6:11 to play.
Charlotte cut the gap to five (51-46) with 4:42 to play, but two free throws by Bucknor and two from Oumar Sylla pushed the lead back to nine at 55-46 with 4:40 left. After the 49ers cut the gap to six, Steenberge hit a three pointer for the third-straight game. Charlotte missed a 3-pointer, Steenberge was fouled and he made 1-of-2 free throws to give Richmond its largest lead of the game at 59-49 with 1:11 remaining.
"Buckner is one of the best players that we've played against all year and Steenberg is a very solid big guy," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "Richmond's style of play is very good. They are no fun to play against. You have to respect it. They do a great job at both ends, not just the offensive end and not just the defensive end. It's their entire style of play. They are very good at it, very smart, and very well coached. They put five out there that play very well together."
