Spiders stunner! Richmond rallies from 22-point deficit to beat Duquesne

Saturday, January 7

Robins Center

6:00 PM

University of Richmond

9-7,2-1Atlantic 10

Duquesne

12-5,2-2Atlantic 10

Duquesne

Richmond

Spiders stunner! Richmond rallies from 22-point deficit to beat Duquesne

01/07/2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Burton, Roche postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — An unreal stretch of shot-making from the visiting Duquesne Dukes put the Richmond Spiders down by as many as 22 points in the first half of Saturday's matchup at the Robins Center.

Down, but not out.

The Spiders rallied for their largest comeback victory in 18 seasons under Chris Mooney, coming from behind to win 75-73 before a sellout crowd of 7,201 and improve to 9-7 this season and 2-1 in the Atlantic 10. The Robins Center reached its zenith when Spiders guard Jason Roche drilled the game-winning three-pointer from the top of the key with 7.5 seconds left to play.

"Shoutout to anybody that came out to the game tonight," said Spiders forward Tyler Burton, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "We really appreciate it and probably couldn't have done it without you."

"The crowd was incredible," said Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney. "Even when we were down 22, [the crowd] was right there."

Richmond's biggest deficit came with just over four minutes remaining in the first half when Duquesne's Dae Dae Grant hit a three-pointer to make the score 47-25. The shot was Duquesne's 12^th straight made field goal, a streak that spanned nearly seven-and-a-half minutes of game time and included an astounding nine three-pointers.

"To be honest, we were there on a decent percentage of them," said Mooney of Richmond's defense on Duquesne's nine consecutive makes from three-point range. "We weren't there aggressively enough or assertively enough, but we were there. They made some shots that were college players making impressive shots. To win a game when an opponent makes nine straight threes is incredible.

"I thought the key was we finished the first half great. I called the second timeout of the first half and in the last four minutes we cut it from 22 to 15. That was really, really important. It didn't seem insurmountable then."

Richmond ended the half on a 9-2 run and trailed 49-34 at intermission.

The Spiders started the second half forcing the ball into center Neal Quinn, who responded with seven points during a 15-2 run that pulled the Spiders with two at 51-49 with 13:28 remaining.

"We've always been preaching to him that we want him to shoot more and more," said Jason Roche of Quinn. "He definitely got us going in the second half with his aggressiveness."

Richmond took its first lead of the second half with 9:38 remaining when a pair of Isaiah Bigelow free throws made the score 57-56. The Spiders pushed their lead to as many as five over the next few minutes.
Duquesne answered, using a 6-0 spurt to retake a 67-66 lead with 4:50 to play. Neither team would separate itself down the stretch. A runner from Duquesne's Tevin Brewer gave the Dukes a 73-72 lead with 21 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Roche's game-winning three-pointer.

"I was kind of supposed to be a decoy on that play," said Roche. "We were trying to look with the two-man game with Tyler and Matt [Grace] that had been working pretty well throughout the whole game. I'm pretty sure the ball was just knocked loose and then [Jason Nelson] got it and kicked it to me."

In addition to being the largest comeback victory during Chris Mooney's 18 seasons with the Spiders, Richmond's rally from a 22-point deficit was tied for the fourth-largest comeback win in Division I this season, just one point shy of 23-point comeback wins by Charlotte, South Dakota State, and BYU.

Burton paced Richmond with 23 points, becoming the first Spider to score 20 or more points in six straight games since Kevin Anderson in March 2009. Quinn added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Isaiah Bigelow had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Richmond is 8-1 at home this season and 18-3 vs Duquesne during Chris Mooney's tenure, the Spiders best record vs any opponent during that span (minimum five games).

Next up for the Spiders is a road game at Davidson on Wednesday. The contest will tip at 7 PM and be televised on ESPN Plus.