Wood's shooting and Allen's inside scoring lead Richmond past La Salle

Marshall Wood and Terry Allen simply caught fire Wednesday night. 

There wasn't a particularly large crowd to watch Wood shoot from behind the arc, but those who were in the Robins Center knew that when he let the ball go, there was a solid chance it would make its way through the net. 

Wood scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers in an 83-61 win against La Salle. 

"When I hit that first shot, I kind of felt myself getting into a rhythm," he said. "Then when I hit the second one, I automatically just know. I just got very comfortable."

Wood did not lead the Spiders in scoring, though. That job, as usual, was reserved for Allen, who was presented with a 1,000-point ball before the game and added 26 points to his career total thereafter on 10-of-12 shooting. 

"They played pretty slow so I kind of had a lot of energy the whole game," Allen said. 

Wood was joined by Jones behind the 3-point line, who finished with four 3-pointers and 16 points of his own. The 3-point shooting opened up the paint at times, allowing Allen and fellow forward T.J. Cline to operate with space. Cline was the fourth Spider to score in double digits with 13. 

Richmond's offense was effective because of crisp passes, ball movement and made shots, a recipe that would usually bode well for any offense but is crucial for Richmond to thrive. And when Allen is playing as consistently as he has all season, that makes his teammates' jobs easier. 

"Terry has been just tremendous," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "You're just so confident in somebody that's that confident and that aggressive."

Richmond's defense was equally strong–at times. The Spiders held La Salle to a 37 percent field-goal mark, a fairly low mark that resulted from tight defense and an abundance of questionable 3-point shots by the Explorers. The negative for Richmond, though, was that La Salle also shot plenty of reasonable 3-point shots, and plenty of them went in. The Explorers finished with 13 made 3-pointers on 33 attempts. 

The Spiders did win the rebounding battle 34 to 28, a rarity for the team during its past few seasons. Allen was the main reason for that edge, as he dominated the boards and grabbed 16 rebounds. 

One stat that is sure to make Mooney cringe was Richmond's 54.5 percent from the foul line. With good shooters at almost every position, Mooney has the right to expect much better from his team. 

With Wednesday's win, the Spiders improve to 10-6, 2-2 in the Atlantic 10. They've got a major date with VCU on Saturday in the Robins Center. 

"The whole city comes out and wants to see that game," Allen said. "It's pretty exciting for players."

Contact Sports Editor Charlie Broaddus at charlie.broaddus@richmond.edu