Blog: Atlantic 10 Tournament

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. —

4:31 p.m. Unbelievable performance by Richmond this weekend. Everything that had been a problem at times this year (dribble penetration, rebounding, foul shooting, etc.) was fixed and it showed as it defeated three quality teams to reach the tournament. Although Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper are not the most vocal of leaders, they do provide the team with leadership and will have the team ready to play next, whenever that is.

3:37 p.m. Dayton just finished its press conference and I'm now waiting for Richmond. Kevin Anderson was named most outstanding player of the tournament and the school set a record with its 27th win. Richmond held its three opponents in this tournament to 35 percent. Kevin Anderson, Justin Harper, Chris Wright (Dayton), Chris Johnson (Dayton) and Lavoy Allen (Temple) were named to the all-tournament team.

3:06 p.m. Out goes Justin Harper and he's met with a hug from Mooney and the same goes for Kevin Smith, who points up to the ceiling with both hands before leaving. Dayton is not fouling and the game is over. Richmond is the 2011 A-10 champions.

3:04 p.m. For emphasis, Darrius Garrett just blocked Chris Johnson's shot and Kevin Hovde just checked in for Kevin Anderson. As Anderson went to the bench, he was met with a big hug from Richmond coach Chris Mooney.

3:01 p.m. One minute. That's how long Richmond is away from celebrating an A-10 title as long as it holds its nine-point lead.

2:54 p.m. Dayton is down to one timeout left after Gregory took one to set up his offense trailing by 10 with 1:45 left. Anderson just made a pair of free throws for Richmond.

2:52 p.m. Dayton coach Brian Gregory just ordered his team to foul Darrius Garrett when he touched the ball with about two minutes left in the game. Garrett, a 47 percent foul shooter, missed the first of the one-and-one.

2:47 p.m. Richmond is 3:27 away from its first A-10 title as it holds a 10-point lead (what else?) with Dayton getting possession on a jump ball when play resumes.

2:45 p.m. That defensive substitution is really paying off for Mooney. Martel just blocked a shot and even though Dayton got the rebound, Garrett and Martel combined for another one.

2:43 p.m. Mooney is starting to do his late-game, defense-for-offense substitutions whenever possible. He just sent Darrius Garrett and Francis-Cedric Martel back in the game as Richmond looks to protect its 10-point lead with less than six minutes remaining.

2:33 p.m. The game continues to be played at a 10-point spread. Richmond holds the 10-point lead right now with about eight minutes left. Justin Harper is back in the game for Richmond after sitting out the past few minutes after picking up his third foul, and has scored three points since being put back in.

2:23 p.m. Have to give the Flyers credit, they are resilient. After the Spiders brought the lead back up to 12, the Flyers cut it down to six (where it stands right now with about 11 minutes left in the game). Paul Williams has been the big spark for Dayton, as he has hit a three pointer after a UD offensive rebound and then hit a 13-foot jumper the next possession.

2:12 p.m. Richmond has settled down and brought its lead back to 10. Kevin Anderson really brought back the game for Richmond with his three pointer that gave the Spiders an eight-point lead.

An interesting stat from the first half for Richmond: The Spiders were 8 for 15 on three pointers and just 3 for 12 on two-point shots that half. Just goes to show how tough of a defense Dayton plays.

2:08 p.m. Momentum is clearly on Dayton's side. It has cut Richmond's lead down to five and Harper has picked up two quick fouls for Richmond and now has three on the game.

2:03 p.m. The second half is about to begin as Richmond looks to get back into its groove that put it up by as many as 15 during the first half. No Flyer has more than six points and Richmond is led by Kevin Anderson's 11 points and Justin Harper's eight points.

1:48 p.m. Not the way that Richmond wanted to close out the first half. The 15-point lead was cut down to 10 as Richmond tried to drive the ball in for layups but found its shots blocked as two or three Dayton defenders would crowd around the ball. On defense, Richmond failed to box out Dayton which led to a couple of easy putbacks. All in all, it was a good half for the Spiders but they will need to find a different way to score besides three pointers as they are starting to not fall for them.

1:39 p.m. It's the last media timeout in the first half and Richmond continues to make its three-pointers and limit Dayton's touches. Dayton only has one offensive rebound so far and Richmond has made 7 of its 11 three pointers. The Spiders need to finish out the half strong and keep this 15-point lead headed into the half.

1:31 p.m. As the last update mentioned, it has been a defensive-oriented game so far. Both teams limit drivers to the basket and force the other team to use a lot of the shot clock before taking a long three-point attempt. Even on the fast break, it's been hard for Richmond to get a look close to the basket as Brandon Spearman just took a charge from Cedrick Lindsay to bring us to the under-8 timeout. At this point, it's the Spiders up 10 thanks to their three-point shooting.

1:27 p.m. Dayton coach Brian Gregory is a stickler for tough defense. After Justin Harper was able to get inside position for a layup, Richmond's only close look of the game so far, he called a timeout to get his team's defensive intensity back.

1:21 p.m. There are 11 minutes left in the half and Richmond has the four-point lead. It's still a three-point show as there have already been six made today, four from Richmond. One thing to look out for, Francis-Cedric Martel appeared to come up limping but stayed in the game. He hurt his ankle back in January and has seemed to be affected by it occasionally. But he's still in there and giving Richmond coach Chris Mooney some good contributions.

1:12 p.m. At the first media timeout, it's been all three-pointers as Richmond holds a 6-3 lead. Richmond has looked a bit out of sorts on offense as Dan Geriot has missed on connecting on a pair of passes which has led to Richmond turnovers. Richmond has done a good job of defensive rebounding so far, especially Darien Brothers who, despite still not having made a shot all tournament, has a pair of rebounds.

12:55 p.m. Only a few minutes remain before introductions and tip-off. Richmond will be wearing its home white uniforms while Dayton will be in its red uniform with blue numbering. Not only are the stands emptier than yesterday, press row is also much emptier as all of the Philadelphia press has left. Just got the starting lineups and its the same for Richmond as it has been all tournament. Dayton will start: guard Juwan State, guard Paul Williams, forwards Chris Johnson and Chris Wright and the center is Josh Benson. The two forwards do much of Dayton's scoring as they average a combined 25 points per game. Dayton is running out to the floor now and Richmond will be out soon.

12:24 p.m. Sunday. Well, here it is. Little more than a half hour away from Richmond's second-consecutive Atlantic 10 Final game. Yesterday, Richmond came out slow but found its groove during the second half to upset No. 24 Temple. Now, Richmond must refocus in order to beat Dayton, the No. 9 seed in this tournament.

Today's key for Richmond to win its first A10 title will be to keep Dayton from rebounding the ball. Dayton is only about a 41 percent shooting team but averages about five more rebounds per game than its opponents. Yesterday, St. Joe's was able to make a run and threaten Dayton when it limited the Flyers' ability to get offensive rebounds.

Boardwalk Hall is pretty empty right now and it probably won't be a large crowd after Temple's loss yesterday.

10:33 p.m. Wow. Five hours later and I still can't believe how that game turned out. The Richmond team that came out looked nothing like the one that lost by 20 about a month ago. Kevin Anderson really looked like the A-10 Player of the Year, Justin Harper fought through some shooting struggles to score 18 and Kevin Smith didn't score but still grabbed 14 rebounds. I was also impressed by Cedrick Lindsay's performance, especially his free throw late in the game that made it a two-possession game with only about 20 seconds left in the game. No one will be able to do everything that KA can do, but Lindsay will be more than a capable substitute next year.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's game, it will be another tough game for the Spiders. Dayton has won its last three games, including a 68-67 victory on Friday over No. 1 Xavier. Even though Richmond defeated Dayton by nine in January, that was a different Dayton team. Its point guard, Juwan Staten, did not start that game and was held scoreless in his 21 minutes because he was sick. He is not the Flyers' main scoring option (that's Chris Johnson at 12 and Chris Wright at 13) but helps set up the offense with an average of six assists per game.

With all that said, I still expect Richmond to come out and play well. The senior leadership on this team really wants to win the A-10 title and should come out focused and playing hard. The one thing that would be concerning is the fact that Anderson played 39 tough minutes, Harper played 38 and Smith 37.

But it should be a good game with a lot riding on it. Richmond does not want to leave anything up to chance when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

5:32 p.m. Richmond is celebrating like it just won the A10 title. Richmond defeated Temple, 58-54, and will advance to the A10 finals for the second-consecutive season. Temple cannot win the A10 for the fourth-straight year. I'll give you all more insight in a little nit.

5:23 p.m. We are at the final media timeout with 28.5 seconds left and Richmond has a one-point lead as Kevin Anderson will be at the line for a one-and-one. This game will test whether Richmond has been able to correct its early-season bugaboo of making free throws in close games. Nearly everyone in attendance is on their feet. This is just as good of a game as last year's semi-final against Xavier.

5:20 p.m. I think Kevin Anderson is starting to get tired. Offensively, he's still able to get to the hoop but just can't finish right now. He's also having to work extremely hard on the defensive end as Temple is trying to get him on a bigger player and post him up.

5:15 p.m. Do not think that this is a neutral court. Temple fans have filled up most of the building and have made it very loud in here as the Owls are in the middle of a 7-0 run that has given them a one-point lead with 4:33 left.

5:07 p.m. Kevin Anderson let some emotion show, something that he rarely does. After a jumper to give Richmond its current five-point lead, he let out a bit of a fist pump while running back court. He has really taken over this game and already has 20 points.

5:03 p.m. I think it's officially safe to say that Richmond and Temple is becoming a rivalry in the A-10. These two teams are clearly two of the best in the league and always seem to play each other tight in the big games (last year's A-10 final and this game). Richmond is up three right now.

4:53 p.m. Cedrick Lindsay just drew the third foul on Lavoy Allen and will go to the foul line for a pair of free throws. Temple holds the three-point lead with 11:48 left in the game.

4:47 p.m. Battle of cheers right now during this Temple timeout. After a Cedrick Lindsay transition layup gave Richmond a two-point lead, the Richmond section broke out into a "Let's go Richmond!" cheer. The Temple student section tried to drown them out with a "Let's go Temple!" cheer.

4:43 p.m. The start of the second half picks up where both teams ended the first half. It's been a back-and-forth game despite Temple holding the lead for most of the game. Richmond was able to get a brief, one-point lead early this half but it's now a two-point Temple lead with Cedrick Lindsay at the line for one when play resumes.

4:33 p.m. Both teams are back on the floor as the second half is about ready to start. Three Temple players have at least two fouls (Lavoy Allen, Aaron Brown and Rahlir Jefferson who has three) and its depth may be tested in the second half. Richmond is being carried by the duo of Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper who have combined to score 23 of Richmond's 30 points.

4:20 p.m. We are at the half and its Temple with the 31-30 lead. Richmond did a good job of weathering Temple's early attack and getting the Owls into some early foul trouble. Richmond's still not shooting the ball great — only 38.5 percent — but once again its the rebounds and strong defense that is keeping Richmond in this game.

4:18 p.m. Justin Harper may be getting his groove back. He just hit a three and is now shooting 50 percent for the day. He has 12 points for Richmond so far.

4:12 p.m. Where was this Kevin Anderson all year? He's driving aggressively to the basket and has made Temple defenders look slow a couple of times already. He leads the Spiders with 11 points as they now trail Temple by only one.

In the crowd for Richmond is former basketball player Ryan Butler. Butler was part of Richmond's NCAA Tournament team last year and was key in a number of its victories last year.

Editor's Note: Due to technical problems, previous entries have been lost. We are regret this error.

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