Spiders defeat Georgia State Panthers 94-78

The University of Richmond men's basketball team defeated the Georgia State University Panthers 94-78 in UR’s second game at E. Claiborne Robins Center this season. 

After coming off a tough loss on the road to Utah State, which set the Spiders’ record as 1-1, they turned up the defensive fuel in the first seven minutes of the game on Nov. 16 to shut down Sun Belt Conference favorite Georgia State, who was 1-1 before this game. 

Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney started Isaiah Wilson over sixth-year graduate student Nick Sherod, who has had a slow start the past two games coming back for the first time since 2020 after a knee injury.

“Isaiah gave us a huge lift defensively,” Mooney said. “The reason we started the game so well defensively was because of his ball pressure and being so aggressive.”

The Spiders got off to a quick 7-0 lead in the first four minutes, forcing the Panthers to take a timeout. Coming off the bench, Nick Sherod provided huge energy for the Spiders. Hitting back to back three-pointers in just 31 seconds, he helped the Spiders push an 11-point lead just six minutes into the game. 

The Spiders led 46-32 at the end of the first half.

As soon as the second half started, the Spiders put their feet on the gas and stretched the lead by over 20 points. After Burton hit a three pointer, the Spiders were up by 32 points -- the biggest lead they had over the Panthers in the game. The Panthers never took the lead in the game. 

The Panthers had a rough shooting night, only shooting 44.6% from the field. The Panthers scored 25% of their points in the final five minutes of the game, dropping 20 points as a team. Senior Kane Williams led the team with 17 points. 

Sherod, on the other hand, finished the game with 16 points, 12 of which were three pointers. 

“I just felt that tonight coming out I was gonna shoot the shots that I felt were good shots for me, and I want to shoot with confidence,” Sherod said in a post-game conference. “Early, I was able to get it going, and we had a great shooting night. Tyler [Burton] was shooting the ball really well tonight.” 

Like Sherod said, the Spiders were hot on offense on Tuesday night. They shot 61.1% from the field and 55.2% from the three-point line. 45 out of the 94 points for the Spiders were points from bench players. Burton led the team with 20 points. 

“I am pleasantly surprised the lead was able to get to that high,” Mooney said. “We started the game defensively far better than our other two games. We were very aggressive and assertive, I thought that was the key.”

For every student that attended the basketball game, the Athletics Department, in partnership with the Richmond College and Westhampton College student government associations, donated $1 toward sexual assault prevention and awareness groups on campus.

The Spiders will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take on Missouri Valley Conference favorite Drake, which is currently 2-0, on Nov. 20, at 1 p.m.

Contact sports writer Lexie Moskovit at lexie.moskovit@richmond.edu.