University of Richmond Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Philadelphia, Pa.
2:00 PM
University of Richmond
12-15, 6-8 A-10
84
at
75
La Salle
8-18, 6-8 A-10
1
2
F
Richmond
44
40
84
La Salle
43
32
75
Historic Shooting Performance Propels Spiders Past La Salle
02/23/2019 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Richmond recorded its best shooting performance ever in an Atlantic 10 game, hitting 67 percent of its shots from the field en route to an 84-75 win over La Salle Saturday in Philadelphia.
The win was Richmond's second straight and fourth in its last five games, moving the Spiders to 6-8 in the A-10 this season, tied for eighth in the conference. Richmond made 32 of its 48 shots from the field, its highest field goal percentage (66.7) in any conference game since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2001. It was the Spiders best shooting in any game since they hit 35 of their 51 (68.6 percent) field goal attempts in a non-conference win over UMKC on November 25, 2008.
"I'm really proud of my guys," said head coach Chris Mooney. "The numbers would suggest we played a tremendous game offensively, but I thought defensively – that's where we won the game. We were more physical than when we played La Salle the first time and we did a very good job late and down the stretch of really executing well to pull away."
The Spiders established their presence in the paint early, as forwards Nathan Cayo and Grant Golden combined for Richmond's first 10 points. Jake Wojcik hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Spiders some early separation, pushing their lead to 16-11 seven minutes into the game.
Another Wojcik three-pointer gave Richmond its largest lead of the first half at 38-29 five minutes before halftime. La Salle was able to use a 14-6 run to narrow the lead to 44-43 at intermission.
The Explorers scored first coming out of the locker room to regain the lead, but Richmond answered with an 11-0 run to push the lead to 55-45 four minutes into the half. La Salle then answered with an 8-0 run of their own to narrow the gap to two.
The Explorers took their largest lead of the game when a Jared Kimbrough layup-and-free throw made the score 64-60 Explorers with 10 minutes remaining. A 7-0 run gave the Spiders the lead back, but La Salle drew even on a three-pointer with 2:04 remaining.
After Nathan Cayo broke the tie with a layup, Jacob Gilyard stole the ensuing inbounds pass. With the shot clock ticking down and Richmond clinging to a two-point lead, Grant Golden's deep three-pointer banked off the backboard and through the net to make it 80-75 Richmond with 33 seconds remaining.
A layup by Wojcik and dunk by Cayo made the final score 84-75 and moved the Spiders record to 12-15 this season, matching last year's win total (12-20).
While the Spiders offense struggled down the stretch when the teams met on February 2, scoring just one field goal in the final seven minutes, Richmond sprinted to the finish on Saturday, scoring 24 points in the game's final 10 minutes.
"We're a little bit more experienced, a little bit more seasoned, a little bit more aggressive, and a little bit less cautious," said Mooney of the team's play in the game's final few minutes.
Golden led Richmond with 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while shooting 10-12 (83.3 percent) from the floor. He's the first Spider to finish with that many points, rebounds, and assists since T.J. Cline vs Oakland in the 2017 NIT.
"I think that might be Grant's best game, and he's had a lot of good games," said Mooney after the game. "Six assists, 24 points, nine rebounds, that's really impressive and that's just a sophomore."
Jacob Gilyard scored 20 points, his 10th career 20-point game, and added six assists and three steals. Nathan Cayo scored 15 points on perfect 7-7 shooting from the field as Richmond scored 49 points in the paint to 20 for the Explorers.
Wojcik also finished with 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers.
Richmond's road trip will continue Wednesday when the Spiders travel to George Mason. Tip time is 7 PM and the game can be seen on ESPN Plus.
The win was Richmond's second straight and fourth in its last five games, moving the Spiders to 6-8 in the A-10 this season, tied for eighth in the conference. Richmond made 32 of its 48 shots from the field, its highest field goal percentage (66.7) in any conference game since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2001. It was the Spiders best shooting in any game since they hit 35 of their 51 (68.6 percent) field goal attempts in a non-conference win over UMKC on November 25, 2008.
"I'm really proud of my guys," said head coach Chris Mooney. "The numbers would suggest we played a tremendous game offensively, but I thought defensively – that's where we won the game. We were more physical than when we played La Salle the first time and we did a very good job late and down the stretch of really executing well to pull away."
The Spiders established their presence in the paint early, as forwards Nathan Cayo and Grant Golden combined for Richmond's first 10 points. Jake Wojcik hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Spiders some early separation, pushing their lead to 16-11 seven minutes into the game.
Another Wojcik three-pointer gave Richmond its largest lead of the first half at 38-29 five minutes before halftime. La Salle was able to use a 14-6 run to narrow the lead to 44-43 at intermission.
The Explorers scored first coming out of the locker room to regain the lead, but Richmond answered with an 11-0 run to push the lead to 55-45 four minutes into the half. La Salle then answered with an 8-0 run of their own to narrow the gap to two.
The Explorers took their largest lead of the game when a Jared Kimbrough layup-and-free throw made the score 64-60 Explorers with 10 minutes remaining. A 7-0 run gave the Spiders the lead back, but La Salle drew even on a three-pointer with 2:04 remaining.
After Nathan Cayo broke the tie with a layup, Jacob Gilyard stole the ensuing inbounds pass. With the shot clock ticking down and Richmond clinging to a two-point lead, Grant Golden's deep three-pointer banked off the backboard and through the net to make it 80-75 Richmond with 33 seconds remaining.
A layup by Wojcik and dunk by Cayo made the final score 84-75 and moved the Spiders record to 12-15 this season, matching last year's win total (12-20).
While the Spiders offense struggled down the stretch when the teams met on February 2, scoring just one field goal in the final seven minutes, Richmond sprinted to the finish on Saturday, scoring 24 points in the game's final 10 minutes.
"We're a little bit more experienced, a little bit more seasoned, a little bit more aggressive, and a little bit less cautious," said Mooney of the team's play in the game's final few minutes.
Golden led Richmond with 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while shooting 10-12 (83.3 percent) from the floor. He's the first Spider to finish with that many points, rebounds, and assists since T.J. Cline vs Oakland in the 2017 NIT.
"I think that might be Grant's best game, and he's had a lot of good games," said Mooney after the game. "Six assists, 24 points, nine rebounds, that's really impressive and that's just a sophomore."
Jacob Gilyard scored 20 points, his 10th career 20-point game, and added six assists and three steals. Nathan Cayo scored 15 points on perfect 7-7 shooting from the field as Richmond scored 49 points in the paint to 20 for the Explorers.
Wojcik also finished with 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers.
Richmond's road trip will continue Wednesday when the Spiders travel to George Mason. Tip time is 7 PM and the game can be seen on ESPN Plus.
Team Stats
RICH
LAS
FG%
.667
.407
3FG%
.500
.355
FT%
.667
.842
RB
24
35
TO
10
11
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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F/C
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/ Men's BasketballG
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