Gilyard's 28 not enough as Spiders fall to Davidson

Friday, January 14

Robins Center

9:00 PM

University of Richmond

10-7,1-3Atlantic 10

Davidson

14-2,4-0Atlantic 10

Davidson

Richmond

01/15/2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gilyard, Mooney Postgame

RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond men's basketball team shook off a slow start, dug in defensively, and traded big shots with one of the nation's top offensive teams, but ultimately fell to Davidson 87-84 Friday night at the Robins Center. Davidson guard Mike Jones' deep three-pointer with three seconds remaining secured the win.

"I thought we guarded [Jones] well and contested the ball well," said coach Chris Mooney of his team's defense on Davidson's final possession. "They don't need a three because the game is tied, so if you just deny him the ball, they're so good at cutting that he might cut for a layup. So you have to play very close to him, but I thought we handled that well and he made a great shot." The shot was Jones' eighth three-pointer of the game on nine attempts.

Richmond was led by Jacob Gilyard, who scored a season-high 28 points, his most since scoring 29 against Dayton on January 25, 2020. He went 8-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc to break a tie with Kendall Anthony and become Richmond's career leader in three-point field goals, with 275. He also dished out five assists and collected three steals.

After falling behind 16-2 in the game's first five minutes, the Spiders strung together a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 16-15. The Spiders still trailed by one at 35-34 with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, but the Wildcats outscored UR 12-5 going into the locker room to take a 47-39 advantage at the break.

Richmond took its first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Nick Sherod with 16:11 remaining, part of a 10-0 run that put the Spiders up 52-49. The Spiders led by one with three minutes to play before Davidson scored six straight points to take an 84-79 lead with 43 seconds left. Tyler Burton narrowed the gap to two with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, seconds before a trap forced a Davidson turnover in the backcourt and led to a putback by Nathan Cayo that tied the game at 84 with 11 seconds to play, setting the stage for Jones' heroics.

"I thought we showed some exceptional fight in the second half," said Mooney. "This really stings, and is really hard, but there are positives. There are some things that we can draw upon."

Nick Sherod came in off the bench to score a season-high 20 points, with five three-pointers. Andre Gustavson played a season-high 30 minutes and chipped in five points, two steals, and a blocked shot. Grant Golden also finished in double figures, recording 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Richmond begins a three-game road swing on Tuesday, Jan. 18, taking on Fordham at 8 p.m. on SNY, MASN, and ESPN Plus.