In a thrilling game fitting of a fierce intra-city rivalry, Richmond (16-12, 9-6) downed #22 VCU (21-7, 11-4), 67-63, in double overtime on Wednesday night at the Robins Center.
The Spiders trailed by three with seven seconds remaining in overtime when ShawnDre’ Jones was fouled to prevent a three. After hitting the first free throw, VCU tipped the rebound of his second attempt out of bounds. With 2.8 seconds remaining, Trey Davis found a cutting T.J. Cline off an in-bounds pass and Cline laid it in to force a second overtime.
Richmond took a four-point lead after a transition pull-up jumper from Kendall Anthony. After several free throws from both teams over the next two minutes, VCU forced a turnover to get the ball back down just two with eight seconds remaining. Great defense from Deion Taylor and Terry Allen blocked a potential game-tying shot from Graham with seconds remaining and the Spiders held on to win, 67-63.
“Hats off to VCU for an incredible effort,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “This really showed how great this rivalry is. I’m so proud of our guys and their effort. They never got discouraged and we made some big plays on both ends of the floor in clutch situations.”
With the victory, Richmond became the first team to sweep VCU in a season series since 2010 when Northeastern pulled it off. The Spiders have now won six of the last seven home games against ranked teams and have 12 wins over ranked opponents since 2008.
ShawnDre’ Jones finished with a team-high 22 points on a career-high six threes. He also snagged a career-best four steals in his fifth-straight double-digit game. He’s averaged 16.2 points per game and 3.0 threes over that stretch.
Terry Allen converted his third-straight double-double, scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds with four assists. T.J. Cline added 11 points and Kendall Anthony scored 13 points with a career-high seven assists. He also had four steals.
VCU was led by Treveon Graham’s 25 points and 10 rebounds. 23 of his points came in the second half and the two overtimes. His three-pointer with four seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime.
JeQuan Lewis scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Rams.
Richmond led from the opening tip and built a 40-24 lead midway through the second half. VCU trailed by eight points with 2:06 left, but missed free throws from Richmond and two threes in the final minute by Melvin Johnson and Graham sent the game to overtime.
The win marked head coach Chris Mooney’s 200th career win in 10 seasons at Richmond and one at Air Force.
Richmond will take its three-game winning streak on the road this weekend with a Saturday night game at Saint Joseph’s. Tip time will be 7 p.m. on the A10 Network and CSN.
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