Richmond defeats Saint Bonaventure on Senior Night

University of Richmond senior Kevin Anderson said he felt the game slipping away when Saint Bonaventure University had cut an 11-point Richmond lead to seven in less than a minute. So Anderson, like he has done countless times in his career, decided to take the game over.

Anderson made back-to-back driving layups while going around a number of Bonnie defenders to help Richmond regain control of the game and finish with a 82-65 victory over Saint Bonaventure Sunday afternoon at the Robins Center.

"They had a good stretch and we needed to get something going," Anderson said. "I felt we needed a little bit of energy and I decided to put the game on my back."

It was fitting that Anderson, one of Richmond's all-time great basketball players, brought stability to the team on Senior Day. When Anderson arrived at Richmond, the team was coming off of an 8-22 season but Anderson has helped lead the team to three-consecutive 20-win seasons and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last year.

Anderson and four other Richmond seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony with Justin Harper and Anderson receiving the loudest ovations. The senior class is one of the most successful in Richmond history, having won 82 games the past four years and having three of the top-20 scorers in school history in Anderson, Dan Geriot and Harper.

Harper moved into the top-20 with the first two of his team-high 24 points against the Bonnies. One game after shooting 6-of-17 in the Spiders' 73-53 loss at Temple, Harper returned to his near 50 percent shooting average by going 7-of-13 and also blocking four shots.

Any ill effects from the blowout at Temple were non-existent against St. Bonaventure. After Richmond coach Chris Mooney opted to have his team play a game of touch-football instead of practice on Friday, the team appeared to come out loose and got up quickly against the Bonnies.

"I think it was good for us just to exhale a little bit," Mooney said.

Geriot knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to start the game and although the Bonnies would go on to lead 18-14 with 13:16 left in the first half, Richmond responded with a 15-4 run that started with a 3-pointer by Harper.

Anderson, who said that before the game he didn't know how his team would respond to the emotional pre-game ceremony. But after the game, he was ready for another Senior Night.

"We came out with so much energy," he said. "It needs to be Senior Night all the time."

Anderson and Harper weren't the only Richmond seniors who used Senior Night to showcase what they have typically done during their careers. Geriot scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists and Kevin Smith, although scoring only four points, added seven assists without a turnover, stole the ball four times and grabbed six rebounds.

"Smith is really like an unsung hero," Saint Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. "He's very unselfish."

Besides getting those stats, Smith also exemplified his career on a fast break during the first half. After a block by Harper, Smith broke out on a 2-on-1 with freshman Cedrick Lindsay. Smith started the break with an outlet pass to Lindsay, who then quickly passed it back to Smith for an emphatic one-handed dunk that brought the 7,291 fans in attendance to their feet.

Richmond got production outside of its seniors. Darien Brothers, who did not start the game for the first time all season as Mooney gave the start to senior Kevin Hovde, had one of the better games of his brief career, scoring 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Mooney said that Brothers would return to the starting lineup the next game.

That next game is at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 when Richmond, now 21-7 and 10-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, travels to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

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