Richmond takes down Northern Iowa

Five players scored in double figures as Richmond produced a balanced winning effort to down Northern Iowa, 82-67, on Saturday night.

Richmond (5-3) shot 53.6 percent from the floor and hit 13 threes, while holding Northern Iowa (5-2) to just seven threes. The Panthers came into the game averaging more than 10 treys a game. They beat then-No. 1 North Carolina earlier this season.

“Northern Iowa is a very good team. We have a lot of respect for how they play,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “But I thought that our team defense was outstanding along the perimeter. This was a really big win for us in a tough stretch of games.”

Senior Terry Allen scored a game-high 21 points, adding seven boards and five steals. It marked Allen’s fifth 20-point game of the season and 10th of his career.

T.J. Cline tied a career high with seven assists while scoring 17 points. ShawnDre’ Jones also dished seven dimes to go with 14 points.

Senior Deion Taylor poured in a season-high 12 points with a 5-of-7 shooting performance and two threes. Trey Davis finished with eight points for Richmond.

Northern Iowa was led by Matt Bohannon’s 14 points, and Wes Washpun scored 10 with six assists.

Richmond outrebounded UNI, 31-28, marking the fourth game in the last five contests that UR has won the rebounding battle.

The Spiders’ ball movement was also impeccable as motion offense led to 23 assists on 30 made shots in a largely half-court contest. Richmond has now made 138 assists on 227 made field goals this season, for a percentage of over 60 percent.

UR’s defense forced 12 turnovers, and Richmond held UNI to just 38.9 percent shooting from long range and only allowed 11 free throw attempts.

The home team used a 10-2 run to build a 22-12 lead in the first half, capped by a driving layup from Davis. The Panthers never clawed closer than seven points for the rest of the half as the Spiders led 39-28 at the break.

Threes from Allen, Taylor and Wood over the first three minutes of the second half extended Richmond’s advantage to 48-31 and the Spiders never looked back.

After a week off for exams, Richmond will return to action in the Robins Center next Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. when the Spiders host Longwood.