Richmond wins South Padre Island Invitational

The University of Richmond men's basketball team won the South Padre Island Invitational on Saturday after beating the University of Missouri, 59-52.

The Spiders won all four of their games during the tournament. Two of the teams faced -- Missouri and Mississippi State University -- went to the NCAA Tournament last year. Mississippi State lost during the first round while Missouri advanced to the Elite Eight.

Richmond started off the tournament by beating the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 75-49 on Nov. 22 at the Robins Center. During that game, junior point guard Kevin Anderson scored his 1,000th career point and the Spiders dominated from the start by going up 14-0.

During the second game, Richmond used a 26-4 run at the end of the game to overcome a nine-point deficit with 9:43 remaining to win 65-52 against visiting Longwood University. That win kept Richmond undefeated at the Robins Center this year.

The Spiders traveled to South Padre Island, Texas, to play Mississippi State. The Bulldogs won the Southeastern Conference last year and were ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll to start the year but entered the game unranked after an early season loss to Rider University. Senior Ryan Butler scored a career-high 19 points and Anderson hit a game-winning shot with 10 seconds left as Richmond prevailed 63-62 to advance to the championship game.

In the title game, Richmond faced an undefeated Missouri team. Richmond held a nine point second-half lead before the Tigers came back to take the lead with 7:29 left in the game. A three-pointer by senior David Gonzalvez with 4:32 left gave the Spiders the lead for good. The Spiders connected on all seven of their free-throws during the last 1:35 of the game to hold off the Tigers.

After the game, Anderson was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was also named to the tournament's first team along with Gonzalvez and Butler.

No opponent shot better than 35 percent from the floor against Richmond in the tournament. The Spiders held Missouri -- a team known for its fast-break ability -- to zero fast break points.

The four tournament wins improve Richmond's record to 6-1, its best start since the 2000-01 season.

Richmond plays again at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2 against Old Dominion University at the Robins Center. ODU was also in the South Padre Island Invitational and lost 66-61 to Missouri in the semifinals.

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