The Richmond Spiders went on a 10-2 run to begin the second half on Wednesday night to regain a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, in a 70-66 non-conference men’s basketball win over the Maine Black Bears at the Robins Center in Richmond, Virginia.
The first half was very back and forth with four ties and nine lead changes. Maine senior guard AJ Lopez had 13 of his team-high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, including a pair of free throws with 1:52 left that gave Maine a 27-25 halftime edge.
Richmond ran off the first eight points of the second half on a layup by Delonnie Hunt, and three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Jason Roche and Apostolos Roumoglou to take over the lead for good 33-27. The Spiders would go up as many as 11 on two free throws by Hunt with 6:43 left to play, and would hit 11-14 from the charity stripe over that last 6:43 to help sew up the victory. Maine continued their shooting woes, finishing at 36% from the floor and just 6-30 from three-point range. Lopez hit 5-8 on his long range attempts, but the rest of the team went just 1-22.
Along with the 19 from Lopez, Kellen Tynes added 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss for Maine. Quion Burns got into double figures with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Burns went 3-16 from the field (1-11 three-pointers). Keelan Steele contributed seven points, while Jaden Clayton did chip in three rebounds, four assists, and three steals but did not score on just three shot attempts. Roche led Richmond in the win with 19 points (5-8 three-pointers, 4-5 free throw line). Hunt had 15 points (11-13 at the line) with four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Jonathan Beagle also added 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists as the Spiders out of the Atlantic 10 snapped a three game losing streak and improved to 2-3. Maine drops to 2-3 and will return home to Orono where they’ll host Patriot League member Holy Cross in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday at 12 p.m.
