Spiders suffer one point loss against Rhode Island

The University of Richmond men’s basketball team suffered a harrowing 69-68 defeat against the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

This is the second loss in a row for the Spiders following their 88-63 defeat against St. Louis University on Jan. 17.

This marks the 31st game between the two longtime rivals bringing the overall record to 19-12 for Richmond with the most recent match being another narrow loss of 67-64 in 2025.

The game started out in a stalemate with neither team scoring until graduate guard AJ Lopez made a three-pointer about two minutes into the game.

Rhode Island responded, scoring two points a minute after, but the junior forward Jaden Daughtry made a dunk in response increasing the Spider’s lead. The Spiders however would maintain a slim lead for the next several minutes into the half, with the teams going back and forth in terms of scoring.

However, in the last six minutes the Rams would take the lead with two layups. They would maintain their lead, until first-year guard Aiden Argabright made a three-pointer in the last minute tying the game.

Richmond would end the half with Daughtry making a rebound defense in the last play and a tied score of 33-33.

After returning from halftime, the Spiders would take back the lead about two minutes in with a layup from senior forward Apostolos Roumoglou. Although the teams would trade baskets for the next 15 minutes the Spiders would continue to maintain their thin lead.

Richmond had a lead of 68-67 in the last minute of the game, but they missed a jump shot and free throws, turning the ball over Rhode Island. They were able to block the Rams from scoring for most of it, but in the last seconds Rhode Island was able to make a two-point shot winning 69-68.

Argabright led the Spiders with 20 points, contributing 13 from the field.

“I do everything in my ability to get us the win,” Argabright said in a postgame interview. “We came up short today, but we’ll be better on Saturday”.

The Spiders made less than half of their field goal attempts, 36% of their three pointers and about 58% of their free throws.

“We really showed a lot of guts and effort and did a lot of things that really gave us a chance, but we just weren’t able to come away with a win,” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said in a postgame interview. “They were able to get themselves to the free throw line late, take some one on one plays late and make some baskets, we just didn’t have enough [to win].”

Richmond's next match will be an away game against George Washington University tomorrow on Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.

Contact sports writer Liam Gunawardena at liam.gunawardena@richmond.edu