University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
3-1,0-0Atlantic 10
Southern Illinois
2-1,0-0MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 32 | 38 | 70 |
| Southern Ill. | 43 | 37 | 80 |
11/12/2026 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Richmond cut a 16-point second-half deficit to four with 1:24 remaining, but Southern Illinois answered the Spiders' late push to hand UR its first loss of the season, 80-70, Thursday night at Banterra Center.
Junior Dominick Stewart led Richmond with 25 points, his second 25-point performance in four games as a Spider, while adding five rebounds and two steals. Jamie Kaiser Jr. scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Andrew Ball added 13 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting. Derin Saran finished with six points, a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.
But Saran and Aiden Argabright were overmatched by the Southern Illinois starting backcourt of Damien Mayo Jr. and Jalen Haynes, who combined for 48 points with Mayo scoring 25 and Haynes adding 23.
Southern Illinois never trailed, scoring the game's first eight points before Stewart got Richmond on the board with a jumper at the 17:22 mark. The Salukis stretched their lead to 11-2 before Stewart answered with a 3-pointer, and Richmond gradually worked its way back into the game. Ball scored five points in a 7-0 Spiders stretch before Kaiser connected from beyond the arc to pull Richmond within 15-13 with 12:26 remaining in the opening half.
Will Harper III and Stewart later connected from deep to keep Richmond within striking distance, but the Salukis used an 11-2 stretch to build their largest first-half lead at 38-24 with 4:08 remaining. Richmond answered with six straight points, including baskets from Kaiser, Stewart and Amon Dörries, before SIU took a 43-32 advantage into halftime.
SIU stretched its advantage to 16 at 60-44 with 12:20 remaining in the second half before Richmond began to chip away. Stewart scored through contact and converted the ensuing free throw with 2:11 remaining, cutting the deficit to seven. After a defensive stop, Saran buried a 3-pointer with 1:24 left to make it 74-70, the closest Richmond had been since midway through the first half.
Southern Illinois answered immediately. Luke Susko found Max Pikaar for a dunk with 1:13 remaining, and Richmond did not score again. Haynes made four free throws over the final 39 seconds to close out the Salukis' win.
Free throws proved decisive throughout the night. Southern Illinois went a perfect 28-for-28 from the line, the second-best free-throw performance by any Division I team over the last two seasons (Tulane, 30-30 vs Texas State on Nov. 8, 2025). Mayo made all 15 of his attempts and Haynes went 9-for-9 as the Salukis outscored Richmond 28-9 at the stripe. Mayo added six assists to his 25 points, while Haynes grabbed six rebounds.
Richmond finished 26-of-65 from the field (40%) and 9-of-24 from 3-point range. The Spiders grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points while forcing 16 Southern Illinois turnovers, but SIU shot 45.8% overall.
The loss dropped Richmond to 3-1 and evened the all-time series with Southern Illinois at 1-1. The Spiders defeated the Salukis 93-84 in overtime at the Robins Center last December in the first meeting between the programs.
Richmond will remain on the road Sunday, traveling to Virginia Tech for a 7 p.m. game in Blacksburg. It will be the third game in a stretch of five straight away from home for the Spiders, their longest such regular-season stretch since 2011.
