Reynolds’ 30 Sinks Spiders at A-10 Tournament

Thursday, March 14

Brooklyn, NY

11:30 AM

University of Richmond

23-9,15-3Atlantic 10

Saint Joseph's

21-12,9-9Atlantic 10

Saint Joseph's

Richmond

The Spiders huddle near midcourt at the Barclays Center

03/14/2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Press Conference

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Richmond Spiders had few answers for Saint Joseph's guard Erik Reynolds down the stretch Thursday at Barclays Center, falling to the Hawks 66-61 in the A-10 quarterfinals. Reynolds finished with a game-high 30 points, including 13 in a decisive five-and-half-minute stretch towards the end of the game.

"I thought they played great, and obviously Erik Reynolds had a really tremendous game," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney of Saint Joseph's. "I thought we guarded him and made him take difficult shots, but he was able to make them."

A three-point by Spiders guard Jordan King gave Richmond a 45-35 lead with 11:27 to play and equaled Richmond's largest lead of the game after the Spiders opened the contest on a 10-0 run. But the Hawks responded with nine straight points before a dunk by Isaiah Bigelow put Richmond ahead 47-44 with 7:35 to go.

"When we had a lead, we didn't extend the lead quite far enough," said Mooney.

Reynolds responded for Saint Joseph's, scoring 13 of the Hawks next 15 points. He made a three-pointer and a jump shot on back-to-back possessions to give St. Joe's a 59-55 lead with 1:50 to play. The Hawks were subsequently able to seal the win at the foul line.

"Their backcourt played incredible," said Spiders forward Isaiah Bigelow. "We tried a couple different things to slow them down, but unfortunately Reynolds was very comfortable in the second half. He was taking tough shots, making tough shots."

Neal Quinn led Richmond with 21 points on 10-13 shooting from the field. He also contributed four assists and a pair of blocks.

"I thought Neal played maybe his best game of the season," said Mooney. "He's a great player. He's an elite passer. He's a great defender. He can just do so many things to help us. I thought he played great."

King added 17 points and four assists.

"We came out and played our hardest and had a good gameplan. We went to practice yesterday and felt good about what we were doing," said King. "We fought hard. We tried to do everything we could to get the win, but it just wasn't enough today."

The loss dropped the Spiders to 23-9 on the season. Richmond entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed after winning a share of the A-10 regular season title with a 15-3 conference record.
"When you have a season like we've had, coming into the tournament as a 1 seed, we automatically know we have a target on our back. People are going to give us their best game," said Bigelow.

The Spiders will learn their postseason fate Sunday evening when the fields for the NCAA Tournament and NIT are announced.