Richmond basketball loses to Vermont, 71-65

The Richmond Men’s Basketball Team lost to the Vermont Catamounts 71-65 on Wednesday night, dropping to a 1-6 record on the season.

The Spiders hit two three point shots and took a small lead over Vermont in the opening minutes but quickly fell behind. Richmond looked to establish leading scorer, Grant Golden (16.2 PPG), in the post early and went his way down low for most of the game.

After almost seven minutes of action, the Spiders found themselves in a six-point hole. Richmond struggled on the offensive side of the ball during the first half, shooting only 32 percent from the field and getting to the free throw line just twice.

"Just more concentration in crucial stretches of the game," Sophomore guard Nick Sherod said when asked how Richmond could have taken the lead.“ I think there were times we had a chance to make some plays but lacks in concentration or forgetting the scouting report caused us to not be able to close the gap.”

The Catamounts lived in Richmond’s paint, scoring 18 of its 32 first half points there. Even though the Spiders were not playing well, Vermont maintained only a small lead for the majority of the first half with the largest being seven.

In a tight, defensive game, no player on either team reached double digit scoring in the first half. Golden lead Richmond with nine points while sophomore forward Anthony Lamb scored eight points for Vermont.

The Catamounts shot 54 percent from the field and owned a 32-27 lead over the Spiders at the half.

The Spiders needed a jump start on offense and Sherod gave them just that. Sherod put the Spiders on the board at the start the second half, hitting two straight threes and cutting the Vermont lead to one.

Vermont continued to get the ball down low to Lamb or found open shooters after hard drives toward the rim. Vermont held onto a small lead as the two sides battled back and forth. Every time Richmond would hit a shot or two, Vermont would answer back with its own.

The Spiders shot over 50 percent from the field in the second half, but were unable to decrease the Vermont lead. Richmond guard De’Monte Buckingham struggled from the field, 3-9, and couldn’t stay on the court because of foul trouble.

After Vermont stretched its lead to eight, the Spiders responded with a quick run. Richmond cut the lead to one with just over six minutes remaining as freshman point guard Jacob Gilyard hit his second three point shot of the game. Gilyard finished with 13 points, three assists and three steals.

Nevertheless, Richmond kept leaving Vermont guard Ernie Duncan open at the three point line. Duncan lead all scorers with 21 and made five threes. Two missed free throws by Sherod lead to a Duncan three-point shot, a five point swing for Vermont.

After sitting for a long time with two fouls in the first half, Buckingham began to score in the second. Buckingham even banked in a three-point shot to cut the Vermont lead to two late in the half before fouling out of the game.

With 3:18 left in the game, Vermont maintained a four-point lead 60-56. At the end of the game, the Catamounts again lead four until Richmond was forced to foul and extend the game. Two final free throws from Duncan sealed the win for Vermont.

“I think that we’ve gotten better, I think we will continue to get better” Coach Mooney said. "You don’t know when it’s going to happen necessarily, but we just want to keep pounding away and keep getting better at the things were good at."

The Spiders travel down to North Carolina to face a tough Wake Forest team on Dec. 2. 

Contact sports writer Jacob Taylor at jacob.taylor@richmond.edu