Spiders Power to Season-Opening Win Over Mount Olive

Wednesday, November 6

Robins Center

7 PM

University of Richmond

1-0,0-0Atlantic 10

101

Mount Olive

0-0,0-0Conference Carolinas

Mount Olive

Richmond

101

11/06/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Walz Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — Opening their season against a smaller, scrappy, pressing opponent, the Spiders turned to their superior size Wednesday night vs Mount Olive, as Richmond's three centers combined for 28 points and 27 rebounds on 12-12 shooting from the field in a 101-68 victory.

Starter Mike Walz scored 10 points and added 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Sixth man Jonathan Beagle registered 11 points and nine rebounds along with a team-high four assists. Ryan Soulis contributed seven points and seven rebounds in seven minutes as Richmond outscored Mount Olive 50-30 in the paint.

"All three centers played really well," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney. "It's a challenge to play in that kind of a game, and it calls for composure. It's easy to really get sped up in a game where the other team is trying to do that. I thought we handled that part pretty well."

Five Spiders scored in double figures as Richmond scored 100 or more points in a regulation game for the first time since January 28, 2017 vs Duquesne (101).

DeLonnie Hunt, the lone returning starter for Richmond, finished with a game-high 17 points. Dusan Neskovic, who transferred to Richmond after leading Dartmouth in scoring last season, added 16 point on just six field goal attempts, going 8-11 from the free throw line.

"He can score in different ways," said Mooney of Neskovic. "He's strong. He can really shoot, so you have to respect the shooting so much. He has a very quick release and he can take the ball to the basket. He really has a great sense of how to use his body. He's able to finish through contact or draw contact when he drives."

Collin Tanner, making his first career start after totaling 24 minutes as a freshman last season, added 13 points, including a team-high three three-pointers.

"I think Collin has a chance to be a great player. I love how he plays. I love his sense for the game, how fluid he is and how athletic," said Mooney. "I just want him to be more assertive. I know that will come with time. We're asking him to do a lot, because we think he can."

The teams were tied at 16 midway through the first half before a 13-0 Spiders run started with six straight points at the free throw line and finished with a layup and three-pointer from Hunt, Richmond's first three-pointer of the game.

Richmond led 52-37 at halftime, and a 14-0 run over a five-minute stretch early in the second half stretched UR's lead to 28 (69-41) and allowed the Spiders to go deep into their bench over the game's final 10 minutes.

UR is now 17-3 in season openers under Mooney, who moved to 349-268 in 20 seasons at Richmond with the win.

He'll try for win 350 at Richmond Saturday against Marist in the Robins Center. Tip-off time is 6 PM and the program will unveil its 2024 Atlantic 10 regular season championship banner in a pre-game ceremony. The game can be seen on MASN and ESPN Plus.