Loyola Nearly Perfect in OT to Nip Spiders

Tuesday, February 11

Robins Center

7 PM

University of Richmond

8-17,3-9Atlantic 10

Loyola Chicago

15-9,6-5Atlantic 10

OT 1

Loyola Chicago

Richmond

Mike Walz holds his follow through after a three-point attempt

02/11/2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Mooney, Walz Postgame Instant Highlights

RICHMOND, Va. — After the Richmond Spiders played a nearly flawless stretch of basketball to get back in the game in the second half, Loyola answered with an even better performance in overtime to escape the Robins Center with an 87-80 win Tuesday night. The Ramblers were 6-7 from the field in the extra period, including 4-5 from three-point range, and scored 22 points in overtime.

"In overtime and late in the game I thought we defended well … but they continued to make shots," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney. "I thought many of them were well guarded."

Loyola Chicago finished the game 18-44 from three-point range, both the most three-pointers and the most three-point attempts by a Spiders opponent in Chris Mooney's 20 seasons at Richmond.

"They have great shooters. That was circled all over the scouting report," said Spiders center Mike Walz. "You can chalk it up to they're good shooters or you can chalk it up to we need to be there on the closeout more and make them dribble. It's probably a mix of both."

The Ramblers most critical three-pointer came with 41 seconds left in regulation, when Jayden Dawson hit a step-back jumper from beyond NBA three-point range over the outstretched arms of the 6'11" Walz to tie the game.

Seconds earlier, Walz had found teammate B. Artis White on a back-door cut for a layup to give Richmond a 65-62 lead, its largest of the game.

Richmond trailed 51-39 with less than 11 minutes remaining in regulation. But the Spiders outscored the Ramblers 13-0 over the next five-plus minutes, taking their first lead of the game at 52-51 on a pair of Walz free throws with 5:09 to play.

"We really found our groove on defense, and things on offense were flowing," said Walz of the Spiders play during that period. "A lot of great flashes on both sides."

Loyola's Dez Watson answered with three-pointers on the Ramblers next three possessions, but back-to-back field goals by Mikkel Tyne and Dusan Neskovic put the Spiders back in front at 61-60 with 2:15 to go.

Early on, it didn't seem like overtime would be needed to decide the game, as Loyola stormed to a 24-9 lead in the game's first nine minutes, hitting nine of its first 12 attempts from the field.

"I'm very disappointed in the start but we did battle back," said Mooney. "They play with a great amount of intensity and I think we didn't handle that part of it well. And like they would all game, they made some shots early. We were on our guys and we were kind of trying to see who could go in there and give us a lift."

The loss was Richmond's first in its last four games vs the Ramblers. UR fell to 8-17 overall and 3-9 in Atlantic 10 play.

Walz led UR with a career-high 20 points before fouling out in overtime. He shot 8-12 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range and added four assists, tied with Apostolos Roumoglou for the most on the team.

"I feel like I've made great strides this season getting myself to a position where Coach Mooney can count on me on the offensive side," said Walz.

"I thought he was really, really good," said Mooney. "We could throw it to him in different spots on the floor and he was able to do something positive with it. His shooting is good and tonight he scored in the post and did some things that really helped us."

Richmond's starting backcourt joined Walz in double figures, with Mikkel Tyne scoring 18 points with a team-high seven rebounds (also a career high) and B. Artis White adding 16 points. White's first bucket of the game, a jumper with 11:40 left in the first half, gave him 1,001 points in his collegiate career.

"He was hampered by two injuries early in the year and that had him have a much slower start, but he's been great," said Mooney. "He can put pressure on the other team when we're on defense and when we're on offense because of his speed. I thought he played great tonight."

An unsung hero for the Spiders was forward Jack D'Entremont, who came off the bench to give UR a defensive lift and ended up playing 31 minutes after totaling less than 10 minutes in Richmond's first 24 games this season. He finished with six points (2-3 shooting) and three rebounds.

"IOur defense was exponentially better when he was in," said Mooney of D'Entremont.

"Great game by Jack, being ready when his name was called," added Walz. "He's loud. He's talking out there. He's getting important rebounds, keeping the offense in flow."

Richmond will return to action Saturday at the Robins Center against Fordham. The game will tip at 6 PM and be broadcast on Monumental Sports Network and ESPN Plus.