University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Davidson
Balanced Effort Leads Spiders Past Davidson, 84-76
02/22/2017 | Men's Basketball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The balance of the University of Richmond men's basketball team was on full display on Tuesday night at the Robins Center when the Spiders had five players in double-figures en route to a 84-76 win over Davidson.
Seniors T.J. Cline and ShawnDre' Jones both finished with 18 points on the night. Cline finished with eight assists and six rebounds, while Jones added three assists and two rebounds.
Sophomore Julius Johnson tied career-highs in points (16) and three-pointers made (4), in addition to grabbing three rebounds. Classmate Khwan Fore added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, while freshman De'Monte Buckingham was the fifth Spider in double-figures with 10 points, also adding five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
“I thought tonight was a really good game. I thought most of the night you had 10 really skillful players on the court tonight. I have the utmost respect for Coach McKillop and their program,” Head Coach Chris Mooney said. “We really shared the ball well tonight and moved the ball around offensively. Defensively, I thought we had a stretch over the final seven minutes or so that we really buckled down and played well.”
As a team, Richmond was just one short of a season high with 32 field goals on the night, while shooting 60 percent as a team, the second-highest mark of the season for the Spiders.
The balance of the Spiders was on display from the tip with four different players scoring in the first three minutes as Richmond ran out to an early 8-3 lead.
After Davidson evened the score at 8-8, a Buckingham three-pointer ignited a 10-2 run that gave Richmond an 18-10 lead with 13 minutes to play in the first half.
The Spiders wouldn't let the Wildcats any closer than three the rest of the stanza behind 21 combined points from Johnson and Cline, who helped Richmond take a 45-35 lead into the break.
Davidson wouldn't go quietly, using the arc to get back in the game, eventually tying the game five minutes into the second half at 50-50. The teams would trade baskets before the Wildcats ran off a 9-2 run to grab its biggest lead of the game 63-58 with 10:17 to play.
Enter Johnson again, who connected on a three-pointer, his fourth of the day, to spark a 19-2 Richmond run that proved to be the difference with the Spiders going 6-for-7 from the stripe down the stretch to seal the victory.
Richmond returns to the road on Saturday when they travel to the Bronx to take on Fordham. Game time on NBC Sports Network is set for 2:30 p.m.
