University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Virginia Tech
Men's Basketball Gives Virginia Tech All It Can Handle
01/03/2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2007
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BLACKSBURG, Va. - Richmond proved again that it can sustain a lead in an ACC arena, leading for the first 31 minutes of Wednesday's game, but for the second time this season the Spiders let a second-half lead slip away against an ACC team in a 65-53 loss to Virginia Tech in Cassell Coliseum.
While playing four freshmen on the court the Spiders opened up a 12-point first-half lead and had a seven-point advantage with 14 minutes to play. In similar fashion to Richmond's game against Wake Forest on Dec. 22, the Spiders, who had all six freshmen play at least 15 minutes, were overtaken midway through the second half.
Richmond trailed by just four with two and half minutes to play and by five with just over a minute to play, but the veteran Hokies (10-4) made 6-of-7 free throws and a dunk with two seconds left to win by 12. It was the Hokies sixth win in the last seven games and they improved to a perfect 7-0 at home. Virginia Tech is picked to finish sixth in the ACC this year.
"I give a lot of credit to Virginia Tech, they hung in there and played hard the whole game," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "I think my team played well. We were doing the things that I hope become staples of our program, such as defending, running our offense well and playing hard."
Freshman Brian Morris led the Spiders in scoring for the third-straight game with a career-high 17 points.
"Overall his floor game has improved since the day he got here, how hard he's moving, the decisions that he can make," Mooney said. "He's going to be a very good player and I hope he's on his way."
Morris tied a career-high with four 3-pointers, while senior Peter Thomas also tied a career-high with three 3-pointers. The Spiders tied a season-high with 11 3-pointers on the night.
Richmond held the Hokies to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half as Tech made just 8-of-24 shots. Virgnia Tech only made 18 field goals in the game.
"I thought we played well defensively," Mooney said. "We made it hard for them to get the shots they wanted. I thought our defense was good."
Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with 22 points, while A.D. Vassallo and Coleman Collins each had 11.
The Spiders (4-9) shot 45.5 percent from the field, were only out-rebounded by four against the more physical Hokies, and only committed 12 turnovers.
"I thought we controlled the game on both sides, our offense was good, we took care of the ball, got very good shots and didn't panic," Mooney said.
Virginia Tech enjoyed an advantage at the free throw line, making 24-of-31, while the Spiders were just 2-of-5. Richmond was called for 25 team fouls, while Virginia Tech was whistled for 13.
