Richmond rips ODU, 77-61

T.J. Cline had a career-high five three-pointers as he tied a career high with 27 points to lead Richmond over Old Dominion, 77-61, on Wednesday night at the Robins Center.

Richmond (7-3) won its third game in a row in dominating fashion, leading ODU (4-6) by as many as 29 points in the second half.

The Monarchs defense came into the game allowing just 57.8 points per contest, which led Conference USA. Richmond blasted through that with 77 points on 57.4 percent shooting including eight three-pointers.

“I was thrilled with how we played,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “We were really good on both ends of the floor, moving the ball well on offense. Defensively, I thought this was one of our best games. This was a really good win against a very good team.”

Cline’s outstanding performance came on the heels of an 18-point effort on Saturday night. His five threes were the most by any Spider in a game this year. He now has two 20-point games this season. Cline added four assists with a steal in the effort.

All-everything forward Terry Allen continued his dominance on the court, notching his third double-double this year with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Allen added four steals in another dominant effort as the Spiders’ leading scorer and rebounder.

ShawnDre’ Jones scored 12 points with six assists and a steal, while Khwan Fore set a new career high with eight points. Deion Taylor tied his career high with five assists.

Old Dominion was led by Trey Freeman’s 15 points and Denzell Taylor’s double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Richmond’s defense held the Monarchs to just 39.7 shooting, including 9-of-31 from the field in the first half. The Spiders offensive ball movement led to 21 assists, the fourth game that the Spiders have topped 20 assists in a contest.

The Spiders used a 21-2 run in the first half to build a 30-11 lead. Although ODU clawed back to within 32-22, Richmond scored the last four points of the half to take a 36-22 advantage.

Richmond started the second half on another big run fueled by three-pointers from Cline. A jumper from Cline made it 51-28 and the Spiders never looked back.

Richmond’s last game before the holidays comes on Tuesday, December 22 when the Spiders host Presbyterian at noon in the Robins Center.