Richmond locked down in crunch time, holding Fordham to just five points in six of the last eight minutes to secure a 70-55 win over Fordham in the Atlantic 10 Second Round.
The Spiders (16-15) advanced to the A-10 quarterfinals for the third straight season as four players reached double figures in the Spider victory.
ShawnDre’ Jones and T.J. Cline each scored 17 points, as Cline added nine rebounds and Jones went 5-of-6 from the line. It was the 19th double-figure game for Cline in his last 20 contests.
Terry Allen was active all over the court, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds and a game-high four steals. Khwan Fore earned his second start of the season and scored 10 points with five rebounds and three steals.
Julius Johnson scored a career-high eight points, hitting two threes.
“I thought that our defense really carried us today,” head coach Chris Mooney said. “The pressure we were able to put on Fordham was a big part of the game. We were able to get some turnovers, make them shoot at the end of the shot clock and get some stops. I was really pleased with the way that we closed out the game.”
Going up against the league’s second-best defense for forcing turnovers and recording steals, the Spiders won the turnover battle 14-9 and scored 21 points off turnovers. Richmond shot 48.1 percent from the field and held Fordham to 38.9 percent.
Thanks to the efforts of Cline and Allen, the final rebounding tally was even despite a double-double from Fordham’s Ryan Rhoomes.
Richmond used a 15-5 run midway through the first half to go up 31-16 after the second three-pointer from Julius Johnson. The Spiders scored inside and out with crisp ball movement as 12 assists resulted in 16 Spiders baskets.
The Spiders did not turn the ball over until there were just five minutes remaining in the half and UR shot 64 percent from the field. A defensive stop and last-second running layup from Jones put UR up 38-22 at the break.
Fordham opened the second half strong, cutting Richmond’s lead to 42-39 within the first five minutes. However, Richmond never allowed the Rams to tie or take the lead despite several strong runs.
With 8:42 left, Fordham cut the margin to 46-45 after a Rhoomes layup. Cline responded with a layup at the other end and Jones stole the ball at midcourt, advancing it to Allen who was fouled.
Two more free throws from Allen and a layup from Cline put the Spiders up 53-48 with 4:48 left. Jones, Allen and Taylor then hit six free throws combining with three defensive stops to put Richmond up 59-48 and effectively put the game away.
Richmond will take on top-seeded Dayton at noon tomorrow on NBC Sports Network in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals.
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