Spiders Win Streak Snapped at St. Bonaventure

Saturday, February 22

Olean, NY

6:30 PM

University of Richmond

20-7,10-4Atlantic 10

St. Bonaventure

18-9,10-4Atlantic 10

Richmond

St. Bonaventure

02/22/2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score AUDIO: Coach Mooney Postgame AUDIO: Jacob Gilyard Postgame

OLEAN, N.Y. – The Spiders furious rally in the final minutes fell short Saturday at the Reilly Center as Richmond lost to St. Bonaventure, 75-71. The defeat snapped Richmond's five-game win streak and dropped the Spiders to 20-7 this season and 10-4 in the Atlantic 10, tied with the Bonnies for third in the conference.

Richmond started the game tepidly in front of a sold-out crowd, managing just a pair of layups from Grant Golden over the first five minutes and shooting 2-10 from the field as the Bonnies jumped out to a 14-4 lead.

After regrouping on defense, the Spiders set about chipping away at the Bonnies edge. Tyler Burton came off the bench to score eight points in the first half, including back-to-back three-pointers that pulled the Spiders within five at 27-22 with just over six minutes to play before halftime.

St. Bonaventure regained its cushion with an 11-4 run to extend its lead to as many as 12 before the Richmond closed the gap to 40-32 at intermission following a pair of three-pointers from Jacob Gilyard. Richmond turned it over seven times in the first half and made only four of its 14 attempts (28.6%) from three-point range.

The teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second period as the Bonnies lead bounced between seven and 10 points. With just under nine minutes to play, a pair of three-pointers gave St. Bonaventure its largest lead of the game at 62-46.

Richmond responded with three-pointers by Gilyard and Nick Sherod to knock the deficit back to 10. Minutes later, the Spiders pulled within single digits on another Gilyard three-pointer with 2:32 to play, his fourth of the game.

The Spiders final rally started with a chaotic sequence that saw Richmond score seven points in five seconds of clock time. With 37 seconds remaining, Grant Golden hit a three-pointer to make the score 69-62. On the ensuing inbounds pass, the Bonnies were called for a flagrant foul as Bobby Plantius swung his elbow into Andre Gustavson's face while trying to free himself from the Spiders trap. Gustavson made one of two free throws seconds before a three-pointer by Blake Francis pulled the Spiders within three at 69-66 with 32 seconds to play.

The Spiders sent the Bonnies to the foul line, where Jaren English knocked down a pair of shots before Francis hit a deep three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to make the score 71-69. Following two more Bonnies foul shots, Tyler Burton scored off a dish from Gilyard to narrow the lead back to two with seven seconds remaining. But Richmond was unable to force a turnover and was forced to foul English, who salted away the game at the foul line with two more free throws, part of the Bonnies 6-6 performance from the charity stripe in the game's final seconds.

Despite the barrage of three-pointers at the end of the game, Richmond finished just 11-35 (31.4%) from beyond the three-point line. Francis led all players with a game-high 23 points, while Gilyard added 16 plus six assists. Despite facing instant double teams every time he touched the ball in the post, Golden finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists while turning it over just twice.

The Spiders will return to action Wednesday night in Washington D.C. when they visit George Washington. Tip time is 7pm.