Cayo’s Last-Second Shot Advances The Spiders In Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament

Wednesday, March 13

Brooklyn, N.Y.

3:30 PM

University of Richmond

13-19

Fordham

12-20

Fordham

Richmond

Cayo’s Last-Second Shot Advances The Spiders In Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament

03/13/2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score AUDIO: Gilyard-Cayo Game-Winning Play AUDIO: Noah Yates Post Game

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – University of Richmond sophomore forward Nathan Cayo (Montreal, Canada) scored the game-winning basket with 0.2 seconds remaining to lift the 11^th-seeded Spiders to a 52-50 victory over 14^th-seeded Fordham in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Spiders advance to the A-10 Tournament second round Thursday evening when they will face sixth-seeded Saint Louis. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. and will be aired on NBC Sports Network nationally.

Fordham tied the game at 50-50 with 6.7 seconds remaining as Antwon Portley hit a pair of free throws. The Spiders quickly came down the floor as sophomore guard Jacob Gilyard (Kansas City, Mo.) drove the length of the court and dished off the pass to Cayo down low. He battled through contact and scored the game-winning basket with only two tenths of a second remaining. The Rams' final full court pass was knocked down by the Spiders, securing the Richmond win.

Cayo overcame a tough shooting start to the game to finish with a team-high 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half when he was 6-of-11 from the field in the final 20 minutes. Redshirt sophomore forward Grant Golden (Winchester, Va.) finished just shy of a triple double, finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Graduate forward Noah Yates (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) came off the bench to add 10 points as Richmond only had two players score in double figures but had four with nine or more points.

The victory marks the fourth-straight season that Richmond has won a game in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the longest streak in school history. It also improved the Spiders to 13-19 on the season, surpassing last season's win total (12-20).

The Spiders came out and opened the game on an 8-2 start when freshman guard Jake Wojcik (San Jose, Calif.) nailed his first 3-pointer. Richmond held the Rams to an 0-11 shooting start to the game, not allowing a field goal for the first 4:43 of the game. Wojcik would hit his second from distance to give the Spiders a 13-5 lead a little over seven minutes into the game.

Golden gave the Spiders a double-digit lead at 18-8 at the 8:52 mark, scoring in transition. Fordham responded with six-straight points to narrow the gap to four at 18-14 but Golden responded with a mid-range jumper to slow the momentum. The teams struggled to find footing down the stretch of the first half as the Spiders took a 23-18 lead into the locker room. Neither team was able to shoot higher than 26.5 percent from the field in the first half and combined to shooting 4-of-22 from 3-point land in the opening 20 minutes.

Fordham scored the first six points of the second half, taking its first lead of the day at 24-23. The Spiders missed their first six shots of the second half while the Rams hit their first three from the field. Richmond gained traction and scored eight-straight, taking a 36-30 lead. Gilyard got the spurt going by scoring a tough basket in transition off a Fordham turnover, his first basket of the day while Cayo added a pair of baskets in the paint.

Fordham answered right back with a run of its own, turning in a 8-0 run taking a 38-36 lead. The Rams started to hit from the outside during the stretch, with a pair of 3-pointers from Antwon Portley. Freshman forward Matt Grace (Hamilton, Ontario) stopped the momentum, nailing a 3-pointer of his own to start the Spiders' 9-1 run in response at 45-39. The 3-pointer was the sixth of the season for Grace, with three of them coming in the two games against the Rams.

Cayo would score at the 1:47 mark left in the second half, giving the Spiders a 49-44 lead but Fordham had another run of its own. The Rams pulled within one at 49-48 with 12 seconds remaining before Golden gave the Spiders a two-point lead by hitting one free throw with 10 seconds remaining. Portley converted a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining tying the game at 50-50.

The victory Wednesday advances the Spiders to the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament and will face Saint Louis in the second round. The Spiders posted an 84-81 victory over the Billikens in the only meeting between the teams this year, which happened in Saint Louis Jan. 30.

-- UR --