University of Richmond
Dayton
Spiders Battle Dayton, But Drop Tough 75-59 Decision
01/20/2017 | Men's Basketball
DAYTON, Ohio – Midway through the second half, an Atlantic 10 media member tweeted “No matter the result, Richmond has put the rest of the A-10 on notice.”
The Spiders earned that respect in front of a national TV audience against the preseason conference favorite Dayton by fighting the Flyers until the end, eventually falling 75-59 after a late run by the home team.
Richmond remained in a tie for first place in the conference at 5-1, the same conference mark as Dayton and La Salle.
Senior T.J. Cline led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists. Redshirt sophomore Khwan Fore was outstanding, finishing with 19 points and four rebounds, while going 8-of-9 from the floor. Freshman De'Monte Buckingham finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Richmond finished 21-of-35 from inside the arc and had 13 assists on 23 field goals on the night. The Spiders owned the paint, outscoring the Flyers 34-24 in that category.
An early spark from Cline and fellow senior Marshall Wood gave the Spiders a 15-11 lead eight minutes into the contest.
Dayton would respond behind a balanced scoring attack that knocked down seven of its final eight three-point attempts as the Flyers took a 40-29 advantage into the break.
The Flyers would push the lead to 14 early in the second half, but the Spiders would begin chipping away behind Fore, who sparked a 14-0 run, scoring eight points in the spurt which tied the game at 45, with under 12 minutes to play.
Both teams would trade baskets and defensive stops, before the Flyers scored seven of the game's next nine points to take a five-point lead.
A huge three-pointer from Cline would get the Spiders within three with under five minutes to play, but the Flyers came up with the stops and offensive buckets down the stretch to pull out the 75-59 victory.
Richmond returns home for a three-game homestand which starts on Sunday against George Mason. The Spiders will play the Patriots in a sold-out Robins Center on at 1 p.m. on ASN.
