Rapid Recap: Richmond 68 - Fairfield 47

Final Score: Richmond 68 - Fairfield 47

What Happened: Sound defense and sharp foul shooting led Richmond to a 68-47 victory over Fairfield in the consolation of the Hall of Fame Tipoff consolation. Terry Allen led all players with 16 points. Fairfield could not control the rest of Richmond's front court as Alonzo Nelson-Ododa had nine points and eight rebounds and Derrick Williams had 11 points. Richmond rushed out to a 13-2 lead and didn't look back from there. Fairfield did not reach double figures until there was under five minutes left in the half, and by that point, Richmond had the game in hand. The Spiders forced Fairfield into nine first half turnovers while only committing two. Richmond used its depth as nine different Spiders scored in the first half. Terry Allen led all scorers with six points and four other Spiders scored five points in the half. The smaller Fairfield team could not handle Richmond's front court and the Spiders out-rebounded the Stags, 16-10. A Cedrick Lindsay floater at the buzzer symbolized a first half where everything went the Spiders way, and Richmond led 36-17 at the break. Richmond did not let Fairfield back into the game in the second half, and the Stags could not get within 14 points on the Spiders in the half.

Spider Positives: Richmond's offense looked good today, but it's defense is what propelled Richmond to its easy victory. Fairfield could not figure out Richmond's matchup zone as it scored a season low in points. Terry Allen, who has played well all season for the Spiders, played one of his best games in a Richmond uniform today. Fairfield could not keep up with Allen's superior athleticism. Richmond's foul shooting was superb as it went 26-32 from the line. If Fairfield ever had hope of staging a comeback in the second half, Richmond's foul shooting Fairfield could not keep up with Richmond's depth. Nine Spiders played at least 14 minutes and no Spider played more than 27 minutes. Rebounding plagued the Spiders last season and has hurt the Spiders this year, but today Richmond out-rebounded a smaller Fairfield team, 38-28. Fairfield (1-4) was not a good team today, but Richmond looked great, and overall, the Spiders played good basketball for most of the weekend.

Spider Negatives: While the Spiders shot well from three-point range in the first half, it struggled to do the same in the second half. The Spiders went 4-16 on three-point shots in the game. Coach Mooney still has convidence in his team's outside shooting, but at eventually Richmond will have to start making 3-pointers. Richmond's 10 second-half turnovers is too high of a number. Yes, the game was out of hand, but Richmond will have to keep better care of the ball in close games.

Up Next: The Spiders travel to Air Force, where Mooney coached before coming to Richmond, on Wednesday.

Contact staff writer Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu

Follow him on twitter at @Jack_Nicholson