University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Xavier
Spiders Fall To No. 8 Xavier But Finish Fourth In A-10 And Earn Bye In Conference Tournament
03/08/2008 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2008
Box Score |
Notes
| SpiderTV Wrap-Up 
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Richmond lost to No. 8 Xavier Saturday night, but the Spiders still finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 and earned a bye in the conference tournament that opens in Atlantic City on Wednesday.
The Spiders will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's and 12th-seeded Fordham. Richmond is 16-13 overall and finished 9-7 in the conference. The Spiders finished in a three-way tie for third with Charlotte and Saint Joseph's, and earned the tiebreaker based on a 2-1 record against the two teams.
The Spiders fourth-place finish ties for the best regular-season conference finish for Richmond in seven seasons in the A-10.
"Earning a bye is a really great thing for us, it says a lot about our guys and our program and how hard we've worked," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "To be picked where we were, which was not very high, and finish as one of top-four teams is very impressive."
The Spiders led Xavier (26-5, 14-2 Atlantic 10) by six early and trailed by just six at the half, but the No. 8 ranked Musketeers would make 31-of-36 free throws in the second half on their way to an 86-61 victory.
Xavier, which had already clinched its second-straight A-10 regular-season title, made just one field goal over the first six minutes of the half but connected on 13-of-15 free throws to open up a 47-29 lead. Xavier's second field goal of the half on an old-fashioned three-point play gave them a 50-29 with 13:56 left.
Still with just two field goals, Xavier made 6-of-6 free throws to take a 56-31 lead with 11:14 remaining. Freshman Justin Harper's three-pointer with 11:06 remaining made the each team's field goal total for the second half even at 2-2, but Xavier had made 19-of-21 free throws over the first nine minutes of the half, while Richmond connected on 2-of-2.
"I thought we played fairly well in the first half, but they just overwhelmed us a little bit in the second half," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. "When they are able to make 31 free throws in the second half, that's bad for us because we pride ourselves in our defense."
Richmond starters Dan Geriot, David Gonzalvez and Kevin Smith all fouled out and Richmond committed 23 of its 33 fouls in the second half.
Richmond finished 4-4 on the road in the Atlantic 10 with the common trend in the four losses being putting the home team on the foul line too many times. In the four road losses at Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island, George Washington and Xavier, the home team shot at least 31 free throws. Xavier took 43 free throws for the game, the most against Richmond this season.
Freshman Kevin Anderson, who has won five of the last seven Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week awards, scored 20 points for his third 20-point game of the season. Freshman Justin Harper scored 11 points. Sophomore Dan Geriot had 11 points.
B.J. Raymond led five Musketeers in double-figures with 22 points. Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown each had 13 points, C.J. Anderson had 12 and Stanley Burrell had 11.
