Spiders, Golden Roll Over George Washington

Saturday, February 1

Robins Center

6:00 PM

University of Richmond

16-6,6-3Atlantic 10

George Washington

10-12,4-5Atlantic 10

George Washington

Richmond

02/01/2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Golden, Burton Postgame

RICHMOND, Va. – Four different Spiders scored in double figures as the University of Richmond men's basketball team posted a dominant 76-54 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over George Washington Saturday night at a sold out Robins Center. The victory improves to the Spiders to 16-6 on the year, their best record through 22 games since the 2010-11 season (16-6).

Junior forward Grant Golden (Winchester, Va.) scored a game-high 20 points in just 21 minutes of action. He was 9-of-14 from the field, including a three-pointer early in the second half that capped his night off. His play helped the Spiders outscore the Colonials 50-34 in the paint.

"We wanted to throw the ball inside," said coach Chris Mooney. "Most importantly, we wanted to try and get Grant established. I think he's really been playing well and we wanted to throw the ball inside. They're a little bit younger and Grant has been through a lot of these battles and was able to really find great post position and make great finishes."

The Spiders forced George Washington into 18 turnovers while only committing four of their own. Richmond posted a season-high 13 steals. Junior guard Jacob Gilyard (Kansas City, Mo.) led the way with four steals while also dishing out nine assists without a turnover. Gilyard (415) passed Spiders legend Kevin Anderson (410) for the fourth-most assists in Richmond history.

Junior guard Nick Sherod (Richmond, Va.) added 15 points, including 2-of-2 shooting from deep. Freshman Tyler Burton (Uxbridge, Mass.) scored 12 points, marking his third double-digit effort of the season, all coming in the last five games. Junior forward Nathan Cayo (Montreal, Quebec) rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points in 18 minutes of play.

The first half saw the Spiders force George Washington into 12 turnovers as Richmond opened a 39-22 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. Richmond, which only committed one turnover in the first half, scored 12 points off the Colonials' miscues in the opening half.

The Spiders broke open the game with a 14-0 run midway through the half, turning a one-point game into a 31-16 lead. Sophomore guard Andre Gustavson (Helsinki, Finland) started the run with a three-pointer while Golden added a three-point play.

Richmond was able to maintain and build off its lead in the second half as its defense was strong throughout. The Spiders held George Washington to just nine assists and 22.7 percent shooting (5-of-22) from three-point range.

"We knew that guarding the ball screens was going to be really important," said Mooney. "I thought we did a great job of that throughout the game and that's a credit mostly to Grant, Sal [Koureissi], and Matt Grace."

With the win, Richmond (6-3 in the Atlantic 10) matched its conference win total from last season.

The Spiders next hit the road for two-straight games, beginning next Saturday when they travel to the Bronx for a meeting with Fordham. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

-- UR --