Richmond falls in triple-overtime to Saint Louis

In a back-and-forth game, Saint Louis University was able to outlast the University of Richmond men's basketball team 85-72 in triple-overtime Saturday afternoon at the Robins Center.

With the Spiders up by three near the end of the second overtime, the Billikens had the ball. But instead of fouling to send Saint Louis to the line for two shots, the Spiders opted to play defense.

Richmond double-teamed senior Kevin Lisch, but he managed to break through both Richmond defenders and score a three-point shot, connecting as time expired in the overtime. Lisch finished the game with 27 points.

"We discussed fouling there," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "We thought they had not gotten any good looks at all.

"We decided not to [foul] and we had him trapped. He escaped and got himself as good of a look as he had all night. I take my hat off to him, and in retrospect we should have fouled there and made sure we got the rebound on the intentional miss, if there was one."

In the third overtime, the Spiders were outscored 14-1 by the Billikens. After being perfect from the foul line in the second overtime, Richmond went only one for four from the line in the third overtime and missed all six shots from the field.

"They just got into a run," junior David Gonzalvez said. "We missed a few easy shots inside, and it was tough for us to bounce back after that."

Gonzalvez led the Spiders with 19 points in his 52 minutes of play. Sophomore Kevin Anderson played 54 out of the possible 55 minutes and finished with 10 points, while sophomore Kevin Anderson played 49 minutes and scored 17 points.

Those three, plus senior Jarhon Giddings and junior Ryan Butler, played a majority of the game down the stretch.

The loss is the fourth in a row for the Spiders, who are now 11-12 overall and 3-5 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. But Mooney used a person from the crowd for motivation to keep his team's spirits up.

"I think with Tim Hightower being here" the team could use him as motivation, Mooney said of the former Richmond running back and current Arizona Cardinal. "I think they lost four-straight toward the end of the season, but the Cardinals went on to play in the Super Bowl. It's certainly difficult and a tough pill to swallow. But there have been seasons at lower points than this ... [and we've] bounced back to have a good season."

Richmond was hurt by its inability to connect on three-pointers. During the first half, the Spiders were only one for 12 from beyond the arc and finished the game 6-for-28.

It was the first overtime game of the year for the Spiders and the third for Saint Louis. The Billikens had played an overtime game its previous time out against Duquesne University on Wednesday. The game was the first triple-overtime contest in Saint Louis history.

Along with Lisch, freshman Kwamain Mitchell and senior Tommie Liddell III played key roles in the victory. Mitchell played 50 minutes and scored 23 points to help out the offense.

Liddell also played 50 minutes, but his contribution was not as evident in post-game statistics.

"It won't show up in the statistical column, but Tommie Liddell played outstanding," Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus said. "[He played] phenomenal defense individually and as a teammate."

This was the second meeting between the two schools this year. On Jan. 28, Richmond defeated St. Louis 70-62.

Richmond has a few days to recover from the loss before Duquesne comes to the Robins Center for a 7 p.m. game Feb. 11. Duquesne beat No. 9 Xavier University Saturday night, ensuring another tough test for Richmond in a few days.

Contact staff writer Andrew Prezioso at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu