University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
TULANE
Richmond Rally Comes Up Short Against Tulane
12/28/2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2006
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's basketball team cut a 19-point deficit down to four, but could not get any closer in a 75-63 loss to Tulane on Thursday night at the Robins Center.
Freshman Brian Morris led the Spiders with 12 points, while senior Peter Thomas had 10 and freshman David Gonzalvez reached double-figures for the fourth-straight game with 10 points.
Tulane shot 56.1 percent from the floor, including making 14-of-22 field goals on their way to a 40-24 halftime lead.
"I thought our defense was good in the second half, there were stretches when it was excellent," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "The first half wasn't nearly good enough for us to win, we put ourselves in too big of a hole."
Richmond had its worst shooting night of the season, making 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field, just the second time in 11 games that the Spiders have shot under 40 percent from the field.
"Shooting is going to be a toss-up, some nights you will shoot well others you will shoot poorly," Mooney said. "Even the best teams in the country have days when they don't shoot well. You can't depend on that. You need to depend on your defense and ball handling, the things you can control."
Tulane (7-4) pushed that lead to 19 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Richmond tightened up on defense and used a 12-2 run to cut the gap down to four at 55-51 with 5:08 remaining in the game.
Tulane answered Richmond's run with a 3-pointer on the next possession by Andrew Garcia, but a free throw by freshman Kevin Hovde and a runner in the lane by Morris pulled the Spiders back within four with 3:29 to play.
After a jumper by Kevin Sims put the lead back to six, Thomas connected on two free throws to move Richmond within four for the third time. Garcia missed two free throws with 2:15 remaining, but Matt Wheaton was able to tip-in the rebound for a six-point lead that quickly grew to 11.
"We're down four, they miss two free throws and we don't get the rebound, then we have a critical turnover against their pressure," Mooney said. "It's tough to overcome things like that. When you fought back, you need to continue to take care of the ball and do the things that got you back in the game."
Trailing by 14 with just over 14 minutes to play, Gonzalvez connected on a four-point play, making a 3-pointer, getting fouled and making the free throw.
The Spiders had another four-point play at the 8:22 mark in the second half when Thomas took a pass from Morris on the break and attempted to a dunk. Thomas was intentionally fouled and the ball bounced once on the rim and went it. He then sank two free throws, keying the 12-2 run that pulled Richmond within four with 5:08 to play.
Daniel Puckett scored five of his career-high 12 points in a 7-0 run in the closing minutes that put the game away for Tulane. Robinson Louisme and David Gomez had 13 points apiece for the Green Wave, while Kevin Sims had 10.
Richmond hits the road for its first two-game road stretch of the season, but will not leave the state of Virginia. The Spiders (4-7) play at William & Mary on Sunday at 2 p.m. and then travel to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech on Jan. 3.
