University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
11-4,1-1Atlantic 10
Fordham
9-6,0-2Atlantic 10
Spiders On Target in Road Win at Fordham
01/04/2026 | Men's Basketball
BRONX, N.Y. — Will Johnston exploded for 20 second-half points and the Spiders registered their best three-point shooting performance in 16 years as Richmond downed Fordham 83-75 at Rose Hill Gym Sunday. The win moved the Spiders to 11-4 overall, eclipsing their win total from last season, and 1-1 in the Atlantic 10.
Richmond has now won eight straight games vs Fordham and is 22-1 vs the Rams dating back to 2008.
Richmond finished the game shooting 68% (13-19) from three-point range, its highest three-point percentage since Feb. 10, 2010 at Rhode Island, when UR went 9-13 (69%).
Will Johnston led the Spiders with 20 points, his second straight 20-point effort. Johnston scored all of his points in the second half, going 6-7 from the field, 2-2 from the three-point line, and 6-7 from the foul line over the final 20 minutes.
He played a flawless and beautiful second half, said Mooney of Johnston. I thought he was just terrific.
I came here last night when we shot around, and I was looking at the stone and I was like, 'This is a great environment.' You only get so many opportunities in life to play in a beautiful gym like this in a beautiful city, so heart shouldn't be an issue. And I think we did a good job of that, said Johnston.
Johnston also led Richmond in rebounds (6) and assists (6), becoming the first Spider with 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists in a game since Jacob Gilyard in a win over Iowa in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Richmond's 83 points were the most allowed by Fordham this season. The Rams came into the game allowing just 61.4 points per game, fifth best in Division I.
I thought we understood and popped into our offense pretty quickly. We really wanted to push the pace, said Mooney. In their game against Dayton, the pace was very slow. That's what they want to do. I thought we scored a lot quickly in the shot clock.
The win was Mooney's 181st in an Atlantic 10 conference game, breaking a tie with longtime West Virginia coach Gale Catlett for the third most conference wins by a head coach in A-10 history. Mooney's 22 wins vs Fordham are his most vs any opponent, one more than his 21 wins over George Washington.
UR's 21 assists were its most in an A-10 game over the last two seasons. Sunday was just the third time in 21 seasons under Mooney Richmond recorded at least 20 assists and no more than five turnovers in a game (Feb. 17, 2024 at George Washington, Dec. 1, 2018 vs Wake Forest).
Johnston was joined by four other Spiders in double figures. AJ Lopez added 16 points and a team-high three steals. Mike Walz finished with 14 points on perfect 4-4 shooting from three-point range. Jaden Daughtry and Aiden Argabright each registered 10 points.
Richmond led for much of the first half, building its lead to as many as nine and holding a 33-28 edge at halftime. The Rams opened the second half with a 15-4 run to retake control of the game before Johnston answered by scoring nine points in a span of three-and-a-half minutes to put Richmond in front for good.
You can't take for granted winning any conference game or any college basketball game, especially on the road, said Johnston. It's just really important, and I think we'll have a lot of confidence going into the next one.
The next one for the Spiders is Wednesday at St. Bonaventure, with tip time at 7 PM on ESPN Plus.
