Junior ShawnDre’ Jones scored 13 of his game-high 29 points in the overtime periods as the University of Richmond men’s basketball team picked up a thrilling 98-90 double-overtime victory over George Washington on Thursday night in front of a national TV audience.
Entering Thursday night, the Colonials were unbeaten at home this year (11-0) and had lost just three times since 2013-14 at home. Behind 51 combined points from Jones and classmate Marshall Wood, the Spiders ended that streak in style.
“This is a tough place to play and this was an incredibly hard-fought game,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “I’m so proud of the way we competed and battled. We were mentally tough and answered their momentum again and again. We had so many big contributions up and down the roster, and I’m proud of this team.”
Jones scored 20-plus for the sixth time this year and third time in the past five games with 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 12-of-14 from the charity stripe. He also had five rebounds and four assists on the night.
Wood was the marksman from long range, knocking down seven three-pointers en route to 22 points. It was the second time this year that the redshirt-junior hit seven three-pointers in a game, and it’s the second-highest total in a single game in program history. He also grabbed seven rebounds in the contest.
Senior Terry Allen reached double-figures for the 29th consecutive game with 15 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. He also added four rebounds and two assists to his night.
Freshman Khwan Fore was spectacular off the bench with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Fore’s exclamation-point dunk in the second overtime put the finishing touches on Richmond’s win.
The 98 points is the second highest point total of the year for the Spiders and marks the fifth time this season reaching 90-plus in a game. That’s more than the previous three seasons combined.
Richmond finished 33-of-55 (.600) from the field, the best mark since a win over High Point on November 22, 2014.
George Washington jumped out of the gates earlier, running out to a six-point lead after a three-pointer from Paul Jorgensen with 13:25 to play in the first half. A layup from Allen capped off a 9-2 Spiders to give Richmond a 19-18 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining before the break.
Four three-pointers in the first half by Wood and an old-fashioned three-point play by Jones in the waning seconds of the stanza sent the Spiders into the break with a 42-39 cushion.
Richmond kept momentum on their side to start the second half, scoring the first seven points of the stanza and eventually pushing their lead to 13 after Wood hit another trey with 14:36 remaining in the second half.
The Colonials chipped away at the lead and would tie it on three occasions, but the Spiders held a three-point lead with under 10 seconds to play, but a heave from Jorgensen hit every part of the rim and eventually dropped to send the game into overtime at 74-74.
With Allen having fouled out, the Spiders fell behind by three in the first overtime period by another big three from Wood and a huge and-one play by Jones would pull Richmond even at 85-85 heading into the final 15 seconds of the first overtime period. The Spiders would hold strong defensively and force double overtime for the second straight year in Foggy Bottom.
Jones and Fore scored the only points of the second overtime period for the Spiders, but that’s all Richmond needed, holding Colonials to just five points and went 9-of-12 from the free-throw line to seal the huge road win.
Richmond returns to the road on Sunday when they travel to St. Bonaventure. The Spiders and Bonnies are two of just three teams in the country with three or more players averaging 15-plus points per game. Game time in Olean is set for 3 p.m.
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