Spiders Dig Deep for Comeback Win in A-10 Opener

Tuesday, December 31

Robins Center

4 PM

University of Richmond

6-8,1-0Atlantic 10

George Washington

11-3,0-1Atlantic 10

George Washington

Richmond

12/31/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Hunt Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond outscored George Washington 27-9 over the final nine minutes — including 9-0 in the final 74 seconds — to stun the Revolutionaries in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams Tuesday at the Robins Center. UR's 66-61 win, its ninth in its last 10 games against GW, improved its record to 6-8 on the season and 1-0 in the A-10.

Richmond is now 14-10 all-time in A-10 openers, including 11-9 under Chris Mooney.

"I'm very happy for our guys. The last couple of days have been pretty intense here, and we've really tried to make sure we did our best to be a Richmond basketball team. And the guys responded extremely well in our time together, which was a fair amount," said Mooney.

"We've got a chance to redeem ourselves in conference, and it started today" said Spiders captain DeLonnie Hunt. "That's what's so beautiful about conference basketball, everyone has a chance each and every night. This conference is loaded with talent, great coaches, you know, so every night you're going to have to go in and give it your all and that's what we did tonight."

Hunt led Richmond with 19 points, 10 of them coming in the final nine minutes as Richmond erased a 13-point George Washington lead.

"To be honest, what we went through this week," said Hunt when asked what allowed for the Spiders comeback. "After the loss to FGCU, it was time for a change, and that started in practice. We went through a lot these past two days in preparation for the game.

"We have to keep going. We held each other accountable this week. We busted our behinds this week, and it showed. That's why we were resilient down the stretch."

Mooney attributed the comeback to "gritty defense," adding "There were plays in there that were late in the shot clock that we were in what we call the gaps with the next man helping, that we ran down loose balls. I just thought it was that."

UR led by as many as 11 points in the first half and found itself ahead 29-21 at halftime after holding George Washington to 6-25 shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

But the Revolutionaries improved their aim after halftime, as Gerald Drumgoole Jr. exploded for 27 second-half points on 7-9 shooting from three-point range. With Drumgoole leading the way, GW built a 52-39 advantage with nine minutes remaining.

Richmond answered with an 8-0 run, started by a pair of runners from Hunt and followed by four straight free throws from Dusan Neskovic, who joined Hunt in double figures with 17 points.

Despite its spurt, it seemed like UR was headed for a loss after a Drumgoole layup put GW ahead 61-57 with 1:37 to play. But Collin Tanner found Apostolos Roumoglou for a three-pointer from the wing with 1:14 to play, and Hunt was fouled on his drive to the basket with 24 seconds remaining following a missed three-pointer by the Revs. He made both free throws to give Richmond a 62-61 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Spiders center Mike Walz contested a layup attempt by GW's Darren Buchanan Jr. and snagged the defense rebound before getting the ball to Hunt, who was fouled. Hunt made both ends of the one-and-one to put UR ahead 64-61.

Following two more Hunt free throws, Walz grabbed GW's last-second three-point heave for his 15^th rebound of the game, the most by any Spider since Isaiah Bigelow had 16 vs Dayton on Jan. 27, 2024.

Richmond's 18-20 performance from the foul line helped offset its 35 percent shooting from the field, including 27 percent from three-point range (8-30). Richmond's field goal percentage was its lowest in a win since March 13, 2019 vs Fordham (32 percent).

"It's about tough players making tough plays, and we did that down the stretch. We made the ones that we needed to," said Hunt.

Hunt, Walz, and Roumoglou each registered three assists, and Hunt added a career-best six steals, the most by a Spider in more than a year (Dji Bailey – 6 vs Florida on Dec. 9, 2023).

Richmond has now won three straight games in the series and is 21-13 vs George Washington under Chris Mooney, Mooney's most wins vs any opponent during his Richmond tenure.

The Spiders will seek to start 2-0 in A-10 play Saturday at Massachusetts. Tip-off is scheduled for noon on ESPN Plus.