University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Fordham
Third-Place Spiders Turn Up The Defense To Overtake Fordham In Home Finale
03/05/2008 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2008
SpiderTV: PRESS CONFERENCE 
| HIGHLIGHTS
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's basketball team held Fordham to without a field goal for nine minutes in the second half and used a 16-1 run to pull out a 58-53 win in the final home game of the season Wednesday night in the Robins Center.
Senior Gaston Moliva had two clutch baskets in the final six minutes, including a dunk that put Richmond up by four with 48 seconds remaining. Senior Oumar Sylla had six points, making both of his field goal attempts, including a key three-pointer in the Spiders' second-half comeback.
Fordham shot 47 percent in the first half, including 55 percent from behind the arc. After the break, Richmond held the Rams to just 35 percent shooting and 0-of-10 shooting from behind the arc.
"We really turned up the defensive pressure after the half, our defense was great tonight," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said.
With one game left on its schedule, Richmond is a two-way tie for third in the Atlantic 10 with UMass. The Spiders are 9-6 in the A-10 with their most conference wins since the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament season. Richmond has had at least nine wins in four of its seven seasons in the Atlantic 10.
The Spiders improved to 16-12 on the season and have won 12 of the last 18 games, not losing back-to-back games in that stretch. Richmond plays their final regular-season game on Saturday at No. 8 ranked Xavier with a chance to finish as high as second in the conference.
Before facing the Spiders, Xavier can help the Spiders' clinch a tie for fourth in the conference with a win at Saint Joseph's on Thursday night. The top four teams in the Atlantic 10 earn a bye in the conference tournament, to be held next Wednesday through Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
The Spiders trailed by eight at the half Wednesday and were down by 11 four times in the first 4:04 of the second half. After trailing 40-29 with 15:56 left, Richmond would hold Fordham (11-16, 5-10 Atlantic 10) to just seven points over the next 15 and a half minutes. Fordham took a 44-37 lead with 9:44 remaining, but would not make its next field goal until there were just 17 seconds left, a span of 9:27.
Herb Tanner's jumper with 17 seconds left snapped Richmond's 16-1 run, which had let the Spiders take a 53-47 with 26 seconds left.
A layup by Moliva with 5:44 left in the game had given the Spiders their first lead since the 14:11 mark in the first half. A layup by sophomore David Gonzavlez put the Spiders up 49-46 with 4:06 remaining and after a Fordham free throw cut the gap to two, Moliva took a pass from freshman Kevin Smith and dunked it for a four-point advantage.
Richmond freshman Kevin Anderson made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 26 seconds to preserve the win.
Sophomore Dan Geriot and Anderson each finished with 14 points. Geriot, who scored in double-figures for the sixth time in the last seven games, grabbed eight rebounds. Anderson scored in double-figures for his sixth-straight game, while sophomore David Gonzalvez had 10 points for his eighth-straight game in double-digits.
Richmond held Fordham's leading scorer Bryant Dunston to just nine points. Brenton Butler was the only Ram in double-figures with 19 points.
