Spiders Fall One Shot Short vs Furman

Thursday, November 27

Kissimmee, FL

11:00 AM

University of Richmond

5-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Furman

4-3,0-0SoCon

Richmond

Furman

11/27/2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Chris Mooney Postgame

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Richmond missed four go-ahead field goal attempts in the final 45 seconds of regulation, including three on its final possession, to allow Furman to escape with a 73-72 win in the opening game of the Imagination Bracket at the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational Thursday. The loss snapped Richmond's season-opening five-game winning streak.

"Just kind of not quite enough time. We needed a few more seconds or one or two more basketball [shots] to drop," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney.

Richmond held Furman scoreless over the final three minutes, outscoring the Paladins 7-0 over that span to cut its deficit to one.

With 45 seconds to play, Will Johnston's runner as the shot clock ticked down failed to draw iron. Richmond forced a turnover on the other end to get the ball back with 30 seconds remaining. Johnston drove from the right wing but his shot was blocked out of bounds, giving Richmond the ball under the basket. Seconds later, Aiden Argabright's up-and-under jumper glanced off the front of the rim, but he knocked the rebound off a Furman defender to give the Spiders a final chance with five seconds on the clock. Mike Walz caught the ensuing inbounds pass at the top of the key and drove left, stopping and pivoting for a turnaround jumper at the left elbow. The shot hit the left side of the rim, and the final horn sounded during the scramble for the rebound.

"I thought Aiden got himself a good look," said Mooney. "We battled and we were able to get the out-of-bounds under again. That's a shot that Mike Walz is capable of hitting, so I want him to take that. He's a guy that can make turnaround shots and can make shots fading."

Richmond fell to 5-1 on the season while dropping its first one-point decision since Dec. 3, 2022 at William & Mary (58-57).

Jaden Daughtry led the Spiders with 12 points, while UR's starting backcourt, Mikkel Tyne and Johnston, each had 10.

Walz led all other players with 10 rebounds — his second straight double-digit rebound game — and six assists, matching a career high.

The Spiders trailed by as many as 15 in the opening half after finding few openings as Furman — one of the five tallest teams in Division I — employed an aggressive 1-3-1 zone.

"The 1-3-1 slowed us down. They're very, very long. That's probably the one thing that technically for smaller guards is a little harder, especially with the length that they have," said Mooney. "But as long as we held onto the ball and eventually got in there below the foul line, we were able to get some shots. But it really slowed the game down.

"We had talked about it, but the size of the top two – Johnston and the center there, who really comes up and extends — creates some problems. I thought we adjusted fine, but I wish we had handled it a little bit better."

Richmond trailed 43-38 at halftime, with Furman hitting 55 percent of its shots from the field, including 6-11 from three-point range, in the opening 20 minutes.

The Spiders will face former A-10 rival Charlotte in the Imagination Bracket's third-place game Friday at 12:30 PM on ESPN Plus.

"For as bad as the feelings might be right now, it was a one-point game. That's a lot of things where everybody could say 'I should have done this' or 'I should have done that,'" said Mooney. "The great thing about a tournament is we have to come right back and play tomorrow" .