University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Rhode Island
Stifling Defensive Effort Leads Richmond Past Rhode Island, 73-62
01/26/2017 | Men's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – If the old adage “defense wins championships” holds true, the University of Richmond men's basketball team should feel pretty good after Wednesday night's effort against perennial Atlantic 10 contender Rhode Island.
A stifling defensive effort led the Spiders to a thrilling 73-62 victory to improve Richmond's A-10 record to 6-2. UR held the Rams to just 34 percent from the field and 11 percent from long range, while forcing 18 turnovers.
“Rhode Island is one of the most talented teams we'll play all year and I'm really proud of the toughness and grit our guys played with tonight,” Head Coach Chris Mooney said.
Offensively, senior T.J. Cline had his eighth 20-point performance and his eighth double-double with a game-high 21 points 13 rebounds, while also dishing out four assists. Classmate ShawnDre' Jones finished with 18 points, including clutch free throws down the stretch.
Redshirt sophomore Khwan Fore added 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, along with playing terrific defense on A-10 Player of the Year candidate E.C. Matthews, who finished 1-of-8 from long range on the night. Freshman Nick Sherod was the fourth Spider in double figures with 10 points on the night. Sherod made just his third start of the season tonight.
“It was one of those games where we had huge plays from a bunch of different guys all night long. Joe Kirby came up with some big rebounds, Julius Johnson came up with some key loose balls, De'Monte Buckingham had a couple big blocks. It was really a great team effort,” Mooney added.
Richmond set the tone right from the tip, jumping out to a 9-0 lead, capped by a three-pointer from Jones with 17:05 to play in the first half.
URI pulled the margin back to four several times, but Fore sparked a 11-0 run with stifling defense and five of the Spiders' points to give Richmond a 31-18 lead headed into halftime.
The Spiders kept the foot on the gas in the second half, pushing their lead to as much as 21 on three occasions.
Rhode Island went to a very physical full-court press and forced the issue as they drew back to within eight points with 3:20 left.
However, the Spiders defense came up with critical stops and knocked down eight of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the crucial 73-62 victory.
Richmond wraps up its three-game homestand with a 7 p.m. Saturday night showdown with Duquesne. The game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.
