University of Richmond Athletic Department issued the following announcement on Feb 12.
The Richmond Spiders kept La Salle at arm's length for the final 21 minutes Saturday at the Robins Center, leading to a mostly drama-free second half in UR's 77-63 victory.
Tyler Burton and Grant Golden each scored 15 points to lead the Spiders, with Burton adding a game-high 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
"Every game this year when we've been able to stretch the game out and extend leads it's all started on defense," said Golden of what made the difference after halftime Saturday. "Number two – I think we really got out in transition. The last four or five games I want to say we've really done a good job of getting the ball going. With the athletes we have and the playmakers we have when we get out in transition we're really good."
Three other Spiders reached double figures, as Nick Sherod came off the bench to hit four three-pointers for 12 points, Nathan Cayo added 12 points, and Jacob Gilyard finished with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
"He controlled the game," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said about Gilyard. "I thought tonight he was great. There's a lot of length out there and [the La Salle press] could be an issue. Sometimes we attacked – him being the catalyst – and sometimes we came over and ran our offense and he has a great sense of how to go about doing that."
The win was Richmond's second this season against La Salle, after the Spiders defeated the Explorers 64-56 in Philadelphia on January 22. This is the third season UR has swept a two-game series with the Explorers along with 2019-20 and 2002-03.
La Salle took its largest lead of the game with 4:45 remaining in the first half when a three-pointer by Jhamir Brickus made the score 29-23 and capped a 10-2 Explorers run.
But Richmond responded with a 13-4 stretch over the final 4:30 of the period to take a 36-33 lead into the locker room. Six straight points midway through the second half bumped Richmond's lead to 52-44 with 11:53 to play. When La Salle closed the gap to three, Richmond again pushed its edge to eight with five straight, making the score 57-49 with 9:14 remaining. A 6-0 Spiders run over the next two minutes made it 63-51 in favor of Richmond and ended any serious threat from the Explorers.
Richmond is now 17-9 on the season and 8-5 in the Atlantic 10, good for fifth in the league standings. The Spiders are 7-2 in their last nine games following a 1-3 start to A-10 play.
The Spiders won't play again until Friday, when UR visits VCU in the second game of the Capital City Classic presented by Richmond Area Honda Dealers. The game will tip at 7 PM and be broadcast on ESPN2.
Original source can be found here.
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