Spiders Upset Bid Comes Up Short At A-10 Tournament

Thursday, March 14

Brooklyn, N.Y.

8:30 PM

University of Richmond

13-20

Saint Louis

20-12

Richmond

Saint Louis

03/15/2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The 11^th-seeded Spiders pushed sixth-seeded Saint Louis to the limit Thursday night at the Barclays Center before sputtering down the stretch and allowing the Billikens to secure a 71-68 come-from-behind win.

"It was a super-competitive, very physical game and I thought we did many things really, really well," said coach Chris Mooney. "I wish we had a few more points in us."

Richmond was sharp from the start, scoring the game's first five points and then ending the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 36-30 lead at the break. Grant Golden led all players with 16 points in the first half as the Spiders, who entered the game last in the A-10 in rebounding, trailed the Billikens, who entered the game first in the league in rebounding, by just one on the boards, 15-14.

Richmond built its lead to double digits with layups by Andre Gustavson and Nathan Cayo in the first 40 seconds of the second half, forcing the Billikens to call a timeout. Saint Louis regrouped and, behind a new trapping defense that worked to deny Spiders point guard Jacob Gilyard the ball, began to chip away at the Richmond lead.

The Billikens finally caught the Spiders with 5:07 remaining in the game after back-to-back three-pointers from Fred Thatch and Tramaine Isabell Jr. made the score 62-62. Moments later, Saints Louis reeled off five straight points to make the score 69-64 with 1:38 to play.

After a timeout, the Spiders responded with a layup by Jacob Gilyard and a crucial defensive stop to get the ball back trailing by three with 26 seconds left. With 14 seconds left on the clock, Noah Yates drove and found Nathan Cayo for a layup to cut the Billikens lead to 69-68.

Richmond fouled Javon Bess on the ensuing inbounds possession, and the senior made both free throws to build the lead back to three. The Spiders worked the ball around to find an open three-pointer in the final seconds but Gilyard's desperation heave was off.

Golden led Richmond with 20 points, his team-leading 13^th 20-point game of the season. Gilyard finished with 12 points, a game-high six assists, and no turnovers. He also added a steal to finish the season with 88, one shy of matching his school single-season record from last season.

Cayo (12) and Gustavson (10) also scored in double figures as Richmond shot 49 percent from the field (25-51) and 40 percent from three-point range (6-15).

The Spiders solid shooting wasn't able to overcome the Billikens edge on the boards, however. Saint Louis outrebounded Richmond 27-6 after halftime, and outscored the Spiders 11-0 in second-chance points behind 14 offensive rebounds.

Saint Louis will face Dayton in the A-10 Quarterfinals on Friday.