University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
vs. Fordham - Atlantic 10 Tournament
Men's Basketball Season Ends With A-10 Tourney Loss To Fordham
03/09/2006 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2006
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The University of Richmond played tremendous defense Wednesday, holding Fordham to 45 points, but the Spiders' season-long shooting woes returned in a 45-37 loss in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The short-handed Spiders used their match-up zone defense that led the nation in fewest points allowed for part of the season, to hold Fordham to just 23 first-half points and only 22 in the second half. But Richmond shot 26.8 percent from the field (15-for-56) and only made 3-of-6 foul shots compared to Fordham's 15-of-25.
The Spiders, who had to play without seven guards that could have been in uniform this season, still finished 13-17 overall in 2005-06. Fordham, the tournament's sixth seed, advances to play third-seeded La Salle on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Richmond senior Jermaine Bucknor finished his collegiate career with 12 points and six rebounds. It was his 22nd time scoring in double figures this season and the 42nd time in his career. He made two three points, giving him 15 3-pointers in six career games in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. He finished his career with 151 3-pointers, which ranks fifth on the school's all-time list.
Sophomore Drew Crank tied a career-high 10 points for the second-straight game and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and two steals. Senior Kevin Steenberge scored eight points and had two blocked shots.
Bryant Dunston led Fordham with 14 points and Jermaine Anderson also reached double figures with 13, making 4-of-8 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
Richmond never led in the game, but stayed with Fordham for most of the first half, trailing by four with 4:23 remaining before the Rams opened up an eight-point lead at the break.
The Spiders opened the second half with five-straight points by Steenberge coming on a jumper and 3-pointer that sliced the gap to two points (23-21) with 18:09 to play. Steenberge and Thomas both had open 3-point attempts on the next two possessions to give Richmond the lead, but both rimmed out and Dunston scored the next four points to push the lead back to six at 27-21 with 15:48 to play.
In a defensive standoff, both teams accounted for just one foul shot over the next five-plus minutes, before a Crank jumper pulled Richmond within three (27-24) with 10:05 left.
Dunston again had the answer inside with a lay-up and then Sebastian Greene converted a three-point play to open up a 32-24 advantage. A tip-in by Bucknor closed the gap to six with 7:44 remaining, but that was the closest the Spiders would get the rest of the way.
