Spiders Suffer 1st Home Loss of Season

Richmond, VA —

The Richmond Spiders were defeated by the Saint Louis Billikens 74-58 in front of 7,004 at the Robins Center.  In a game that was very back and forth throughout the 1st half, the Billikens prevailed thanks to strong interior play where they scored 48 in the paint, as well as Jordan Goodwin.  Goodwin tallied 26 in the Saint Louis victory.  This one was tied at the break at 31-31 with Richmond taking their first lead of the game with about 1:00 left in the half.  Jacob Gilyard broke Richmond Hall of Famer, Greg Beckwith’s all-time steals record, as he picked up 3 in the Spider loss.  Nick Sherod also reached a milestone, as he joined Golden, Francis, & Gilyard in the 1,000 point club, contributing 17 points tonight.  He is finding his stroke once again, and said postgame that “he never lost his confidence”.  This is a good sign of things to come for Richmond if he can get hot.  Credit does need to be given to the fans tonight, because this place was electric tonight.  Kudos Spider fans.  Things were a bit frantic to start, but both teams settled in and the pace slowed down a tad.  Then we reached the 2nd half.

Richmond Couldn’t Find the Answer

Richmond struggled midway through the 2nd half, where they allowed Saint Louis to go on a 21-2 run which gave the Billikens a 9 point lead with 9:53 to play.  During that stretch, the Spiders were ice cold, going 1-9 during the run.  Unfortunately, those struggles continued for the remainder of the contest.  The Spiders just couldn’t get many 3’s to drop, as they went 4-21 on the night.   Second chance points plagued Richmond tonight, as they gave up 7 offensive rebounds to the Billikens, leading to 14 points compared to the Spiders 2.   Blake Francis went down hard in a scramble, and had to exit play due to an upper body injury .  Mooney had no formal update on the injury.  He had a solid night, knocking down 6 baskets for 14 points.

Road Ahead for Richmond

The Spiders will head to Davidson, North Carolina to take on the Wildcats.  This will be a big game for Richmond, as they look to avoid their 2nd losing streak of the season.  Tonight just wasn’t Richmond’s night, and those things happen.  The Billikens shot 50.9% from the field.  As always, be sure to stay up to date on all things Richmond Spiders right here on www.A10Talk.com.  We will see you Tuesday Spider Nation!