Rapid Recap: Richmond 64 - St. Bonaventure 62

Final Score: Richmond 64 - St. Bonaventure 62

What Happened: Richmond, playing in its first game since the team announced Cedrick Lindsay's was season over and Derrick Williams left the team for personal reasons, really need this win. After trailing by as much as 14, Richmond came back in the second half to push past the Bonnies, 64-62. Kendall Anthony, who finished with a game-high 28 points, hit a pull-up jumper with hands in his face with five seconds left to give Richmond the win. Matthew Wright and Youssou Ndoye carried the Bonnies, combining for 32 points Richmond's offense struggled early, as Kendall Anthony, who led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, was the only Spider to make a field goal in the first eight minutes. Defensively, Richmond didn't have an answer for the Bonnies inside game as they scored their first eight made field goals in the paint. A big (no pun intended) reason why the Bonnies were so successful down low was Youssou Ndoye, a 7-foot junior from Dakar, Senegal, who had 10 of the Bonnies first 14 points. The Bonnies finished the first half outscoring the Spiders 26-4 in the paint. Despite Richmond's early struggles, Richmond trailed by just two with eight minutes left in the half. The Bonnies, however, went on a 16-4 run and extended its lead to 30-16. Richmond responded with three-point shooting, as Trey Davis and ShawnDre Jones hit consecutive 3-pointers with under four minutes in the half to cut the Bonnies lead to 34-26. ShawnDre Jones hit his second 3-pointer to bring Richmond within five at the half. Richmond shot 5-10 from deep in the first half. Trailing by 44-37 early, Richmond went on a 9-0 about six minutes into the half to take its first lead of the game. Richmond extended its lead to 56-50 on a Kendall Anthony 3-pointer followed by a transition bucket from Trey Davis, but the Bonnies fought back to tie the game at 56. The Bonnies then took a 62-60 lead with three minutes to play, but Terry Allen hit a hook shot to tie the game with 1:25 left. The Bonnies had a chance to take a lead with under 30 seconds remaining, but Richmond held them, and Anthony gained possession, drove the length of the floor, and hit the shot.

Spider Positives: For starters, what a gusty performance by Richmond tonight given what's happened the past two days. The Spiders could have easily rolled over when they were down 14 in the first half, but this team should a lot of resiliency to come back. Everyone in the Robins Center knew Kendall Anthony would be the guy Richmond would turn to to make up for the absence of Williams and Lindsay, and he certainly was up to the challenge. Anthony scored by blowing by his defenders, pulling up with hands in his face, and making two threes. Anthony was on top of his game tonight. ShawnDre Jones is no Cedrick Lindsay, but the 5-foot-10-inch freshman looked confident tonight, as he picked up good amount of Lindsay's minutes. Jones finished with a career-high 13 points on 4-6 shooting. His shooting at the end of the first half and early in the second half help ignite the Spiders comeback.

Spider Negatives: The biggest negative for the Spiders today came before the game when the Spiders learned Cedrick Lindsay would miss the remainder of the remainder of the season. Lindsay, who has been the Spiders best player this season, tore his meniscus in each knee. Additionally, Derrick Williams left the team Monday for personal reasons. Not a lot was going right for Richmond coming into tonight. Similar to Jones, Wayne Sparrow had extended minutes tonight because of Richmond's recent losses. Unlike Jones, Sparrow did not make the most of his added minutes. Sparrow has been in a slump for much of the season, but I think these added minutes will help him break out of it in coming games. Alonzo Nelson-Ododa rebounded great tonight, but he had another tough night offensively, finishing with three points on 1-10 shooting. Nelson-Ododa will need to be more of a factor on offense in coming games.

Up Next: Richmond will travel to Pittsburg to take on Duquesne next Wednesday.

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

Follow him on twitter at @Jack_Nicholson