University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Temple
Gonzalvez And Smith Lead Richmond Past Temple And Into Fourth Place In A-10
02/06/2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2008
SpiderTV: PRESS CONFERENCE 
| HIGHLIGHTS
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - With 33 seconds remaining and Richmond clinging to a three-point advantage, Kevin Anderson swiped the ball from Mark Tyndale at midcourt, made the layup and the Spiders were a perfect six-for-six at the free line in final 19 seconds to ice a 64-58 win over Temple Wednesday night at the Robins Center.
The win lifts the Spiders to 12-9 overall and into sole possession of fourth place in the Atlantic 10 at 5-3, a half game behind third-place Rhode Island. The Rams (5-2 Atlantic 10) play at Massachusetts on Thursday night.
Sophomore David Gonzalvez scored 20 points and freshman Kevin Smith matched his career-high with 13 points off the bench in a rugged A-10 battle in the West End. Chris Clark scored 18 for the Owls, who fall to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the loop.
Gonzalvez did his damage with a 7-for-13 shooting night from the field and knocked down three of his four shots from downtown. Smith was 3-of-6 from the field and drilled seven-of-nine free throws to match the career high of 13 he set versus Virginia Tech.
Richmond stormed out of the locker room in the second half, scoring the first four points on consecutive possessions to seize the lead the for the first time at 28-27. The Spiders were able to build on the lead, although being whistled for the half's first five fouls and six of the first eight, and opened the gap to as many at seven (37-30) with 15 minutes remaining.
But Temple chipped away at the deficit and regained the lead momentarily at 40-39 on a three by Clark at the 11:43 mark. The Owls' lone second-half lead lasted just a possession as Gonzalvez drilled a three followed by a Geriot layup on the next series, and the Spiders were back on top 44-40.
Thanks to four points by Dionte Christmas in a 30-second span, the visitors cut the margin back to one at 50-49 with 7:08 remaining. But four straight points by the Spiders - all from the hand of Smith - over the next two minutes put Richmond back in the driver's seat.
Christmas, who entered the game as the A-10's leading scorer, was one of three Owls in double-figures with 14. Tyndale added 11 for Temple, which was outscored 32-20 in the paint.
The back-and-fourth battle featured seven ties and five lead changes.
With temperatures nearly touching 80 on a February day in Richmond, neither team was able to heat up from the field early on. The game was tied at 7-7 at the midway mark of the first half before back-to-back threes fell for Temple.
Richmond was 3-for-19 from the field in the opening 15 minutes and missed its first six three-pointers. The Spiders went nearly eight minutes between field goals before Smith slashed to basket, got fouled, scored and converted the three-point play to pull the Spiders within 16-11 at the 6:12 mark.
That play triggered a 13-4 Spiders' run over the next five minutes which tied the game at 22-22, but the visitors scored five of the half's final seven points to take a 27-24 lead at the break.
Richmond is back home Sunday to host Saint Louis in key conference game at the Robins Center. Tip off is slated for 2 p.m.
