Richmond Defeats VCU

Richmond, VA

The Richmond Spiders defeated the VCU Rams today in front of a sellout crowd at the Robins Center by a score of 77-59. Nick Sherod stole the show early on, knocking down 4 deep balls in the 1st half, finishing with 23 points.  Richmond shot the ball incredibly well, going 29-58 in the contest, including 11-22 from deep.  On the flip side of that, the Rams did not shoot well.  They finished tonight’s contest shooting 24-70 (34.3%).  Rebounding was just about even for both sides, but VCU did have the edge on the offensive glass, totaling 17 offensive rebounds.

Strong Shooting for the Spiders

This game felt like one of Richmond’s early season contests where they shot the lights out from deep.  Knocking down 11 3’s will definitely help your case, especially against a team such as VCU.  Grant Golden went 7-11 with 15 points, while Jacob Gilyard contributed 10 in the Richmond victory.  Good shot selection was key for the Spiders, as they took their time and used some shot clock, especially in the 2nd half.  Blake Francis knocked down some clutch 3’s down the stretch, knocking down 4 total & scoring 13 points.

Spiders Did Some Serious Gameplanning

Bones Hyland torched Richmond at the Siegel Center in January, but that was not the case at the Robins Center.  Richmond limited him to just 3 points, which was a key stat in this one.  I asked Mooney postgame what they did to try to limit Bones’ success and he said the gameplan was “An awareness of how good he is.  I think Blake guarded him a lot and really tried to crowd him and make it difficult for him to score.  He’s a great player and I’m sure he will have lots of great games the rest of his career.  We were very alert to him today.”  VCU was also without Marcus Evans which dealt them a major blow.  Marcus Santos-Silva finished with 14 points, but it seemed that he missed a lot of open looks.  Regardless, Richmond came into this one prepared and it showed.  The Spiders finished the game with 10 steals, led by none other than Jacob Gilyard who tallied 5 in the contest.

What’s Next

The Spiders will be back in action this Wednesday as they host the George Mason Patriots.  Richmond defeated GMU in their first meeting in Fairfax 97-87.  As always, be sure to follow along on twitter at @AustinDaisey11 & @A10Talk.  See you Wednesday night Spider Nation!