Richmond edges VCU in double overtime

Heading into the second half of Wednesday night’s game between Richmond and VCU, Kendall Anthony and the Spiders held a nine-point lead and were playing with confidence. The Robins Center was easily as loud as it’s been this season, and Anthony was waving his arms toward the student section as if to say, “Cheer louder, we’ve got this!”

But behind him, VCU guard JeQuan Lewis was smirking. The look on his face indicated that he was confident his team would battle back and that the Spiders weren’t going to win this one easily.

Lewis was right.

Sure enough, the Rams played the Spiders tough for the rest of the game, and it took two overtime periods for Richmond to eventually win 67-63. Fans rushed the court, giving the Richmond players the celebration they battled 50 minutes for.

In the second half, VCU made up for a dismal first half offensively and scored 32 points to push the game to overtime. But the story is more exciting than that.

With seven seconds left in regulation, VCU’s JeQuan Lewis attempted a shot that was blocked by Deion Taylor. The Rams grabbed an offensive rebound though, and Treveon Graham took a shot from about 30 feet and made it to tie the game.

After Graham’s shot, about three seconds remained on the clock. Richmond’s ShawnDre’ Jones hoisted a desperation shot as time expired, and it bounced all over the rim before eventually bouncing away and hitting the floor.

“Initially I thought it was going to bounce in,” Jones said. “I was laying on the ground I think, and I was very excited, kind of like praying, wishing it was going in.”

Graham’s shot was about as deflating for the rowdy crowd in the Robins Center as any could be. The Spiders had led the entire game to that point, with the only tie being at 0-0.

But Richmond coach Chris Mooney kept his team composed. “I was trying to get them to have life,” he said. “Basketball’s a roller-coaster game. There’s five minutes on the clock, it’s a new game. I didn’t want them to hang their heads.”

The Spiders certainly didn’t hang their heads, but they did find themselves losing by three points with seven seconds left in overtime. Jones went to the foul line and made his first, and then intentionally missed the second with the hope of grabbing an offensive rebound.

The Rams got their hands on the ball, but could not secure it and it bounced out of bounds, giving the Spiders a chance to inbound and score with four seconds left. Sure enough, T.J. Cline slipped behind a defender and scored an easy layup to force double overtime.

“I kind of was caught up a little bit in the craziness that was going on,” Cline said. “But I looked at ShawnDre’ and he got me refocused real quick.”

In the second overtime period, the Spiders took a one-point lead with four minutes left after Terry Allen made a short jump-shot. They would never give up that lead, and the game ended after Allen emphatically blocked a layup attempt by Graham with .01 seconds left.

The game was an instant classic and will be a memorable part of Richmond’s basketball history for a long time. But the game had some short-term effects as well.

For one, Jones grew into a legitimate star for Richmond. He scored 22 points and made six 3-pointers. He also stole the ball under the basket with about a minute and a half remaining in double overtime, and then made two clutch foul shots with just 15 seconds left to push the lead to three points.

“He’s pushing it,” Mooney said of his sophomore guard. “He’s making himself get better. I think this is a great game for him, but I think overall he’s been playing better.”

Another positive for Richmond was the team’s ability to win a close game, which is something the Spiders have struggled with all season. After losing 10 games by fewer than seven points, it will give the team momentum and confidence having won a close game at home. Sweeping the season series against VCU, a nationally ranked rival, will also add momentum to the now three-game win streak.

Richmond played tough defense, forcing the Rams to work hard for nearly every point they scored. VCU was forced to take 32 foul shots, many of which replaced what could have been easy layups. Graham took 18 of those 32, making 14 and finishing with 25 total points.

With the win, the Spiders improve to 16-12 (9-6) and the Rams fall to 21-7 (11-4).

The Spiders will have to rest after a long and hard-fought game, in which Anthony played 48 minutes and three other Spiders played more than 40 minutes. Richmond will travel to Philadelphia to face Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.