University of Richmond
LA SALLE
Men's Basketball Falls To La Salle To Open Atlantic 10 Play, 67-56
01/07/2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond couldn't overcome a 10-point first-half deficit in a 67-56 loss to La Salle on Saturday night in the Spiders 2006 Atlantic 10 opener.
The Spiders were going for their 300th win in the Robins Center, but fell behind 35-25 at the half and trailed by 13 early in the second half. The Spiders then pulled to within one point with 11 minutes to play, but La Salle would pull away in the closing minutes to improve to 10-2 and 2-0 in conference play.
Richmond's defense, which led the nation up until one week ago and hadn't given up 60 points through its first 10 games, has now allowed 60 points or more in three of the last four games.
"Our defense needs to be excellent and right now it's average to below average," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "When it's excellent, we have a good chance to win. When it's not, it's difficult for us."
Richmond junior Gaston Moliva scored a season-high 14 points, one short of his career high, by making a perfect 5-of-5 shots from the field. He also grabbed eight rebounds, had two assists and two blocks.
"He's terrific, he's such a hard worker, he's very aggressive," Mooney said. "Clearly, he's not the most skillful player in the world, but he's got so much energy and he's so active. He's always trying to do something positive. I thought he was terrific. He gave us a chance."
Junior Peter Thomas tied a career-high with 13 points, making 5-of-7 shots, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
Richmond dropped to 7-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference as the Spiders lost their Atlantic 10 opener for the second-straight year. Richmond had won its first three league openers.
La Salle star Steven Smith was held to 14 points, seven points below his average, but the Explorers had three other players reach double figures. Darnell Harris led La Salle with 15 points, making 4-of-7 treys. Marshall Taylor and Mike St. John each had 11 points.
"Their guards were able to spread us out and play one-v-one and they were able to get in the lane," Mooney said. "If one guy wasn't able to make a basket, he was able to get it out to an open shooter. It's a difficult problem to solve because of their quickness. It creates problems because we were so worried about (Steve) Smith, and all of sudden, other guys are able to drive around."
The two teams shot similarly from the field with La Salle making 22-of-51 (.431) and Richmond shooting 21-of-50 (.420). La Salle made eight 3-pointers compared to six for Richmond and the Explorers were 15-of-22 on free throws, while Richmond made just 8-of-17.
Richmond led 7-4 four minutes into the game, but La Salle went on a 15-3 run to take a 19-10 lead and then extended that to a 21-6 run over seven minutes to take a 25-13 advantage.
The Spiders fought back to pull within six at 26-20 with 5:24 left on a 3-pointer by Thomas, but La Salle would take a 35-25 lead into the locker room.
La Salle opened up a 13-point lead at 40-27 with 18:21 to play, but the Spiders went on a 15-3 run over seven minutes to pull within one point at 43-42 with 11:22 left. Smith completed an old-fashioned 3-point play with 11:01 remaining to give La Salle a 46-42 lead, but a Moliva three-point play brought the Spiders back to within 48-45 with 9:07 to play.
La Salle then went on a 12-3 lead over the next four minutes to push its lead back to 12 (60-48) with 4:54 left. Richmond quickly cut the gap to eight with in just 14 seconds when Moliva made a lay-up and was fouled, missed the free throw, but sophomore Drew Crank got the offensive rebound and made two free throws.
Richmond trailed by eight again with 2:05 remaining after a free throw by Thomas, but that was as close as the Spiders would get.
The Spiders will play at Duquesne on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and return home to host Dayton next Saturday at 2 p.m.
