Richmond hangs on to defeat URI, 69-67

For the second consecutive year, the University of Richmond men's basketball team's game against the University of Rhode Island went down to the final possession. And for the second consecutive year, the Spiders were just good enough to get by the Rams, beating URI 69-67 in Kingston, R.I. on Wednesday night.

The veteran back-court duo of senior David Gonzalvez and junior Kevin Anderson led the Spiders to their fourth consecutive win. The tandem scored 35 points, including Richmond's last five points that gave the Spiders the win.

Gonzalvez hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in the game to give the Spiders a 67-66 lead. After a defensive stop, Anderson drove for a lay-up to give the Spiders a three-point lead with only 23 seconds left.

With only five seconds remaining, Gonzalvez fouled URI sophomore Stevie Mejia and sent him to the free-throw line for two shots. Mejia made the first, but missed the second. Richmond lost control of the ball on the rebound and gave the Rams hope.

The ball went to URI senior Keith Cothran who fired a 3-pointer with one second left on the clock. His shot missed and the Spiders escaped with the win.

Last year, then-freshman Francis-Cedric Martel hit a shot in the lane to break a 75-all tie to give the Spiders the lead with 15 seconds left in the game. The Rams had a chance to tie the game, but Jones missed both of his free-throws. Rhode Island got the ball back on a jump-ball call, but then-senior Jimmy Baron committed an offensive foul with one second remaining to give Richmond the 78-75 win as Anderson added a last-second free-throw.

This year, Martel was held scoreless but four Spiders scored in double-figures. Gonzalvez led the way with 19 points and Anderson added 16. Senior Ryan Butler scored 10 points before fouling out and junior Dan Geriot scored 12 points in a reserve role. It was Geriot's first double-digit scoring output since the 80-68 victory at Duquesne University on Jan. 6.

Richmond should receive a huge rise in the Rankings Percentage Index. After last Saturday's win against then-No. 15 RPI Temple University, the Spiders improved about 10 spots on the list. The Rams entered Wednesday's game as the No. 12 team in the RPI rankings and the Spiders in the low-30s (RPIs vary from site-to-site).

A late second-half drought almost cost the Spiders the game. After a 3-pointer by Geriot that gave Richmond a 60-54 lead, the Spiders would not score again until the 2:40 mark, nearly four minutes later, when junior Kevin Smith hit a lay-up to cut a 64-60 URI lead down to two.

With the win, the Spiders improved their record to 19-6 and 8-2 during Atlantic 10 conference play. The Rams fell to 19-4 on the season and 7-3 in the A-10.

Richmond is now tied for first place in the A-10 with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Xavier University.

The Spiders continue conference play at 2 p.m. on Saturday when they face St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y.

Contact staff writers Andrew Prezioso and Reilly Moore at andrew.prezioso@richmond.edu or reilly.moore@richmond.edu