Late Surge Lifts Hofstra Over #23 Richmond

Tuesday, December 22

Richmond, VA

2:00 PM

University of Richmond

6-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Hofstra

4-3,0-0CAA

Hofstra

Richmond

12/22/2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Golden & Mooney Postgame

RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond men's basketball team was unable to overcome a barrage of big shots by Hofstra late in the second half, falling to the Pride 76-71 on Tuesday for the Spiders first loss in their last eight games at the Robins Center.

The Spiders (6-2) had four players score in double figures, led by Tyler Burton and Grant Golden both with 15. Burton pulled down seven rebounds, while Golden added five assists. Blake Francis and Jacob Gilyard both chipped in 13 points, while Gilyard led UR with six assists and three steals.

"I thought at times we had pretty good ball pressure," head coach Chris Mooney said. "But when they went to score, we weren't quite close enough, not contesting the shots close enough."

Hofstra shot 60 percent from the field, the best by any Spiders opponent since Loyola Chicago in November 2018, and 10-20 from three-point range.

"We need to be more aggressive and we need to defend the three-point line better," said Mooney. "It takes everybody. It takes the big guy to hedge. It takes the guards to fight. It takes the next guy to plug the gap or return to his guy if he's the shooter. It takes everybody and little bit more effort to be more effective."

Hofstra employed a 2-3 zone, which disrupted Richmond's offensive rhythm for much of the first half as the Spiders totaled 33 points in the opening 20 minutes and trailed by three at halftime.

Early in the second half, the Spiders seemed to have figured out the Hofstra defense. Richmond used an 8-0 to take a 41-38 lead less than five minutes into the half, and then answered an 8-0 Hofstra spurt with a 14-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 55-46 lead on a three-pointer by Francis with 10:28 to play.

From that point on, Hofstra refused to miss, making 10 of its final 11 field-goal attempts -- including five three-pointers -- over the game's final quarter. Over that same span, Richmond hit just six of its 15 shots from the field en route to a 76-71 loss, Richmond's first in its last 10 games vs unranked opponents.

Richmond will take a break for the holiday and return to action on December 30 to open Atlantic 10 play at Davidson. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.