Ball falls Spiders way in win over Charlotte, 53-52

The Robins Center crowd is starting to get used to entertaining games from its University of Richmond men's basketball team, with three straight games coming down to the final possession.

Saturday night's game against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte came down to a few inches on the final two possessions, with the ball rolling Richmond's way both times.

First, the Spiders took possession down, 52-51, with 47 seconds remaining and, with the shot clock winding down, guard Cedrick Lindsay drove down the middle of the lane. He put up a layup attempt in between two 49ers defenders that bounced off the backboard and sat on the front rim for a moment before dropping through the net to give his team the one-point lead with 16 seconds left.

"I knew I was kind of going off the screen all game, so I figured I'd have a chance to split it," Lindsay said. "It worked out for me that time."

With Charlotte playing for the final shot, forward Javarris Barnett took a three-point attempt with just over two seconds left. The shot bounced off the rim, but right to Charlotte's DeMario Mayfield. He was able to get two more shot attempts off before the sound of the buzzer, the second of which he was left wide open a few feet from basket. The ball bounced off the backboard and onto the front rim similar to Lindsay's bucket, but this time, the ball bounced towards the court, giving Richmond the win, 53-52.

"I was just praying for the ball to get out of there," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "If it goes in, they feel great; if it doesn't, we feel great."

Richmond is now 2-1 in its last three home contests, all decided by two points or less against Atlantic 10 conference opponents. The team defeated La Salle University, 78-76, on Feb. 8 before falling to George Washington University, 69-67, on Feb. 11.

"The conference is wide open this year," Richmond center Darrius Garrett said, "There have been a lot of games like that here and on the road."

The Spiders led for most of the game, only allowing the 49ers to make a run towards the end. Before Lindsay's game-winner, Charlotte took the lead on a free throw by Perria Henry with under a minute and a half remaining. It was the 49ers' first lead since 5-4 early in the first half.

"We know basketball is a game of runs," Lindsay said. "No team quits, so we knew they were going to make a run and we would have to make a run to stay up."

Richmond was able to build its lead up 12 points, led by freshman guard Kendall Anthony, who came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points. Twelve of those points came on 4-of-6 shooting on three pointers.

The win brings the Spiders back to .500 at 14-14 and gives them revenge for their loss at Charlotte, earlier in the season. On Jan. 4, Richmond fell, 75-70, behind a dominant inside game that netted the 49ers 50 points in the paint.

Garrett said he had been reminded of this fact before the game. Charlotte finished with just 24 points in the paint during this game, and Mooney said Garrett had been a big part of that difference. While only credited with two blocked shots, Garrett's presence in the lane forced some uncomfortable shots, he said.

"I just did whatever I could to take the pressure off my teammates on defense," Garrett said.

Next up for Richmond is a game in Philadelphia, against Saint Joseph's University next Wednesday.

Game Notes: Center Chris Braswell led the way for the 49ers, finishing with a double-double at 16 points and 13 rebounds... Richmond turned the ball over 14 times in the second half compared to only five times in the first... The teams combined for 35 fouls, with three players finishing with four fouls each.

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