Spider Comeback Falls Short in 87-81 Loss to Dayton

Tuesday, January 9

Robins Center

7:00 PM

University of Richmond

3-13, 1-3

Dayton

8-8, 2-2

Dayton

RICHMOND

01/09/2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score COACH MOONEY POSTGAME JULIUS JOHNSON & KHWAN FORE POSTGAME

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – It's never easy when the two-time defending Atlantic 10 Champions come to town.

Tuesday evening was no exception for the University of Richmond men's basketball team, as they battled through 40 minutes with the visiting Dayton Flyers.

Despite back-and-forth play in the opening minutes, the Flyers took a 47-35 advantage into the break and held on in the second half on their way to an 87-81 victory at the Robins Center.

Julius Johnson led the Spiders (3-13, 1-3 A-10) with a career-high 17 points, while Nick Sherod, De'Monte Buckingham and Khwan Fore also logged double-digit scoring efforts. The Spiders' 81 points were the most scored by the team this season.

Fore and Jacob Gilyard each logged five assists in the losing effort. Gilyard also recorded a career-high six steals without turning the ball over, tying for the fifth-highest total in single-game program history.

The Spiders jumped out to an early 9-6 lead to begin the game, before Dayton came charging back to take the lead with two-straight 3-pointers. That lead was short lived, as a pair of Gilyard free throws and a three by Johnson made it 17-16 in favor of the Spiders. The visitors then used a 15-2 run to take a 29-18 lead.

Richmond battled back behind jumpers from Grant Golden, Sherod, and Buckingham and a pair of 3-pointers from Johnson, but Dayton's Josh Cunningham answered with four-straight buckets to extend the Flyer lead to 12 heading into the break.

Richmond struggled with shooting in the opening stanza, finishing just 34-percent from the floor to Dayton's 68-percent.

Two steals by the Spiders in the opening minute of the second half led to four points for Buckingham, but an eight-point Dayton run would stop the Spider momentum.

Richmond followed that with a 14-2 run to close the gap once again. Dayton's lead was cut to three twice in the final two minutes on a 3-pointer and jumper from Fore, but it wasn't enough, as the Flyers held on for their second A-10 win of the season.

The Spiders return to the Robins Center this Saturday, January 13, when they play host to A-10 foe George Washington. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.