The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Spiders hope overtime victory sparks season

After starting the year 6-2, Richmond men's basketball team began to show its youth in three-straight losses to small-conference opponents.

In danger of falling to .500, the Spiders were able to eke out an overtime win, 90-82, at home over Old Dominion University on Tuesday. After leading for much of the game, the freshmen- and sophomore-heavy lineup of Richmond showed some mental toughness after Monarchs' guard Kent Bazemore sent the game into overtime with a late three-pointer.

A pair of starters scoring career-highs led the Spiders in junior Darien Brothers and sophomore Derrick Williams. Brothers tallied 38 points, 21 of which came on 7-of-11 shooting from three, and Williams posted 18 without missing any of his four shot attempts.

Starting point guard Cedrick Lindsay joined the two in double-figures with 13 points, while starting center Darrius Garrett finished just shy of a triple-double with nine points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks.

Noticeably missing from the top scorers page was freshman guard Kendall Anthony, Richmond's leading scorer for the season, who finished with just five points. Anthony seems to have hit a bit of a cold streak, scoring below his season average of 14.2 in three of the Spiders' last four games.

Meanwhile, Brothers has begun to take on greater scoring responsibilities after an inconsistent start. He scored 18 in Richmond's 79-65 loss to Bucknell University and 11 in the 88-79 loss to Iona College.

The Spiders hope Brothers keeps up this pace tonight when the team plays at University of California at Los Angeles.

The Bruins (6-5) come in riding a four-game win streak, though the most impressive of the four may be over Pennsylvania University (5-6). UCLA has no dominant scoring options, with leading-scorer Lazeric Jones averaging just 13 points per game.

Richmond won't likely be intimidated by UCLA being in the Pacific-12 Conference, a BCS conference, as the Spiders have already faced three such opponents this season, including victories over Wake Forest University and Rutgers University.

If the Spiders want to leave Los Angeles with their second-straight win, they will probably have to play better in the second half. During its 1-3 stretch, Richmond has been outscored 181-134 in the second half.

The game is set to tipoff at 10:30 p.m. eastern at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Contact staff writer David Weissman at david.weissman@richmond.edu

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

Support independent student media

You can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking the button below, which takes you to our secure PayPal account. The page is set up to receive contributions in whatever amount you designate. We look forward to using the money we raise to further our mission of providing honest and accurate information to students, faculty, staff, alumni and others in the general public.

Donate Now