University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Massachusetts
Hot-Shooting UMass Edges Spiders, 78-74; Knocks Richmond Out Of Second Place
03/01/2008 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2008
SpiderTV: PRESS CONFERENCE 
| HIGHLIGHTS
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's basketball jumped out to an early eight-point lead on Massachusetts, but the Minutemen took a two-point lead at the half and were able to hold off the Spiders down the stretch for a 78-74 victory Saturday night in the Robins Center.
Richmond trailed by as many as 10 in the second half, but cut the deficit to four points on eight occasions in the last 8:14. Within four was as close as the Spiders could get as UMass (19-9, 8-6 Atlantic 10) won its fourth-straight game and kept its NCAA at-large hopes alive.
The loss drops the Spiders into a brief tie for fourth with Massachusetts and La Salle, all at 8-6 in the Atlantic 10. Saint Joseph's and Temple play Sunday night with the winner taking sole possession of second place at 9-5 in the league and the loser dropping into a three-way tie for third with Richmond, UMass and La Salle.
Richmond has two regular-season games remaining as it fights for a top-4 finish in the Atlantic 10 and a coveted bye in the first round of the conference tournament, March 12-15 in Atlantic City. The Spiders, who are 15-12 overall, host Fordham on Wednesday night in the final home game of the season, before traveling to No. 9 ranked Xavier on Saturday.
Richmond had four players score in double-figures, just the second time that has happened this season. Sophomore David Gonzalvez led the Spiders with 20 points, the fifth time in the last six home games that Gonzalvez has scored 20 or more points.
Freshman Kevin Anderson scored all 14 of his points in the final 8:53 of the game. It was the fifth-straight game in double-figures for Anderson, who has won four of the last six Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week awards.
Senior Oumar Sylla scored 12 points, making 4-of-6 field goals, including both three-point attempts. Sophomore Dan Geriot, coming off a double-double at St. Bonaventure that included a career-high 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, made just 5-of-15 field goals and scored 12 points with two boards against UMass.
Ricky Harris and Etienne Brower combined for the Minutemen's 10 three-pointers and UMass shot 51 percent from the field. Harris led all scorers with 24 points, making 5-of-7 three-pointers. Brower made 5-of-6 trey and grabbed seven rebounds. Gary Forbes, the Atlantic 10's leading scorer entering the game, had 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Spiders held their own against the Minutemen, making more field goals (27-26) and only one less three-pointer. Richmond was only out-rebounded by six and had as many offensive rebounds (11) as the Minutemen. UMass was able to turn their offensive boards into 12 second-chance points, compared to six for the Spiders.
Massachusetts opened the second half on a 10-2 run to open up 47-37 lead less than three minutes into the second session. Richmond did close the gap to five with 13 minutes left, but UMass was able to push it back to nine with 9:54 left. That's when Anderson checked into the scoring column with back-to-back buckets to slice the lead to four with 8:14 left.
Richmond would get within four points on seven different occasions over the final eight minutes, but could not get any closer.
The Minutemen made all six of its free throws in the last 38.7 seconds to clinch the win.
