Spiders Offense Goes Cold Late In Loss To La Salle

Saturday, February 2

Robins Center

6:00 PM

University of Richmond

La Salle

Richmond

02/02/2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score MOONEY, CAYO, & YATES POSTGAME

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The Spiders offense went cold at the worst possible time Saturday night, preventing Richmond from securing a second straight Atlantic 10 win and allowing La Salle to escape the Robins Center with a 66-58 victory.

The game was even through the opening eight minutes of play, but La Salle used a run midway through the half to take an 14-11 edge into the second media timeout.

The Spiders struggled to score early, starting the game shooting 4-for-11 before Grant Golden stopped the La Salle run with a bucket in the paint. Jake Wojcik then tied the game at 16 with his first three-pointer of the night as the two teams continued the back-and-forth play.

Richmond took its largest lead of the half in the closing minutes, as Noah Yates hit two free throws and followed that with a nothing-but-net three-pointer to make it 25-20.

La Salle answered with four straight points, but Jacob Gilyard took over in the final 3:29, scoring 10 of his 17 first-half points to send the Spiders into the break with a 35-30 advantage.

Nathan Cayo got the Spiders off to a hot start in the second half, extending Richmond's advantage to nine with back-to-back layups. But the lead would not last, as the Explorers clawed their way back and tied the game at 48 midway through the half.

With the game tied at 50 and under eight minutes to play, Wojcik drained a three-pointer that was quickly answered by La Salle's Pookie Powell at the other end. La Salle then capitalized on cold shooting from the Spiders, taking their first lead of the half with six minutes to play.

With less than a minute to play and La Salle leading 60-55, Golden drove to the basket for the old-fashioned three-point play to make it a two-point game. It would be the only field goal in the final seven minutes for the Spiders, as the Explorers converted six of their final seven free throws to seal the win.

Gilyard led the Spiders with 20 points, his eighth career 20-point game and second straight. Golden and Cayo each finished with 12 points.

The Spiders return to action on Wednesday, February 6, when they host George Mason at the Robins Center. Tip-off is set for 7 PM and the game can be seen on MASN2 and ESPN Plus.