Spiders fall on the road to Minnesota

 

Courtesy of RichmondSpiders.com. 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The University of Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team fell in a battle of unbeaten teams on Sunday night, dropping a 72-57 decision at Minnesota.  With the loss, the Spiders suffered their first setback of the year to fall to 3-1, while the Gophers improve to 4-0.

Junior Derrick Williams led the way for Spiders on Sunday night, scoring a game-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.  Sophomore Kendall Anthony joined Williams in double-figures with 13, while junior Cedrick Lindsaychipped in nine points.

After a back-and-forth first five minutes, the Spiders and Gophers were tied at 6-6.  Over the next four minutes, Richmond went on an 11-2 run, taking a 17-8 lead over Minnesota on a Deion Taylor 3-pointer.  Williams was key in the run, scoring four points on a pair of nice plays inside.

The Gophers answered over the final 10 minutes of the opening frame, however, taking a 30-29 lead into the locker room at the break.  The Spider defense was impressive in the first half, forcing 12 Minnesota turnovers while registering 10 steals.

The second half was much of the same, with both teams taking turns going on extended runs.  In the final 20 minutes, the game saw six lead changes and was tied on four separate occasions.

Exactly halfway through the second half, the Spiders took their biggest lead of the game at 49-42. Lindsay’s jumper at the 10:00 mark put an exclamation point on a 9-0 Richmond run that turned a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

Not to be outdone, the Gophers responded over the next four-plus minutes with an 11-0 run to retake the lead from the Spiders.  The Gophers didn’t look back over the final five minutes, hitting their free throws to take the victory, 72-57.

On the game, the Spiders turned 19 Minnesota turnovers into 25 points, totaling 15 steals on the night.  Richmond also held the advantage in bench points, 20-16.

The Richmond Spiders will return home to the Robins Center to play host to the Wofford Terriers on Tuesday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.