Barrage of Late Three-Pointers Sinks Spiders at VCU

Saturday, February 3

Richmond, VA

4:00 PM

University of Richmond

16-6,8-1Atlantic 10

VCU

14-8,6-3Atlantic 10

Richmond

VCU

View from behind the backboard as DeLonnie Hunt make a layup at VCU

02/03/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. — Despite playing a forgettable offensive first half, the Richmond Spiders were in position to knock off their crosstown rival on the road Saturday, leading VCU 30-28 midway through the second half.

But the Rams, who missed their first 11 three-point attempts of the game, suddenly found their touch from deep, sinking their next four shots from three to build a small but insurmountable lead in a game where Richmond struggled to score.

The Rams well-timed three-pointers and solid free-throw shooting down the stretch led to a 63-52 win over the Spiders Saturday, snapping Richmond's 11-game win streak.

"They played a great defensive game and made those timely threes," said Spiders head coach Chris Mooney. "I don't think they had a three at halftime. They made five [in the second half], and they all felt pretty big."

The Spiders missed their first six shots from the field and managed just 18 points in the opening half, hitting 6 of their 25 shots from the field (24 percent).

"I thought we had some of our best opportunities early [and] we didn't take advantage or didn't score," said Mooney.

The Spiders did score on their first two possessions of the second half to take a 22-20 lead, their first of the game. UR led 30-28 before VCU's Zeb Jackson hit the Rams first three-pointer of the night, starting the critical stretch of four straight made threes by VCU. The last of the four, by Joe Bamisile with 5:48 remaining, gave VCU a 47-39 lead. UR would get no closer than four down the stretch.

DeLonnie Hunt and Jordan King led Richmond with 12 points. King entered Saturday averaging 19.4 points per game, second most in the A-10.

"They just paid such close attention to him," said Mooney. "Everybody is going to make it hard for him. They were able to limit his opportunities."

Despite a size advantage in the frontcourt, VCU outscored Richmond 30-26 in the paint. Center Neal Quinn added nine points to a team-high nine rebounds, six assists, and two blocks.

"That's an amazing stat line for a seven-footer. Amazing. And the finish he had in the first half where he pivoted, stopped, and shot a lefty layup — there are very few guys who can do that. So he needs to be aggressive," said Mooney. "I love him. He's as good of a kid as we've had in our program. But we really need him to be as aggressive as possible."

The loss dropped the Spiders to 16-6 overall and 8-1 in the conference. Richmond remains in first place in the A-10, holding the head-to-head tiebreak over 8-1 Dayton.

Richmond has a mini-bye this week and won't return to action until next February 10, when the Spiders host La Salle at 2 PM on ESPN Plus and Monumental Sports Network.