Entering the A10 Tournament there was a lot of talk over which of the top four seeds would emerge to claim the championship. In the end it was sixth seed, Richmond, cutting down the nets at Capital Bank Arena on Sunday.
Richmond 64 Davidson 62
Possessions: 65
Offensive efficiency: Richmond 98, Davidson 95
Ninety four seconds remained and Richmond trailed by six. Kenpom.com calculated the Spiders’ chance of winning as a 4.5% probability. Richmond went on a 7-0 run in the final seventy seconds to earn the victory and title. Richmond’s Matt Grace scored three points on the afternoon. They were huge. Grace’s traditional three point play with 19 seconds left gave the Spiders the lead. Davidson missed a shot on the ensuing possession. Jacob Gilyard was fouled with two seconds left. Gilyard hit one of two. Davidson advanced the ball to the frontcourt on a baseball pass and quickly called time out. On the final possession Michael Jones missed a contested corner three.
The final numbers were extremely close. A major factor though was Bob McKillop’s Wildcats shooting a sub par 46% eFG percentage.
Richmond was the aggressor early on. The Spiders came out establishing a 9-2 lead the first four minutes of the game. That, in itself, sent a message to Davidson.
Gilyard led all scorers with 26 points, capturing the Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in the process. The graduate guard was on the floor for Richmond every minute throughout the tournament. Sam Mennenga led the way for Davidson with 18.
