There’s nothing quite like the Capital City Classic between the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball programs.
The crosstown rivalry between two schools that sit just under six miles apart from one another never fails to disappoint, especially when held at the Robins Center.
And this year was no exception, as in the 93rd iteration of the historic matchup, it came down to the wire, with the Spiders ultimately emerging on top and taking down the Rams 79-76 on senior night Mar. 2.
When the Spiders took on the Rams at the Siegel Center over a year ago, as the final seconds fizzled off the clock, you could hear the crowd chanting “we run Richmond.” Well, this time around, it was UR who ran Richmond, securing the victory and splitting the series in a season where both teams have found success in Atlantic 10 conference play.
“As I say every year, it’s just so great in college basketball to have a rivalry, especially one as exciting, intense, in such close proximity as this because that’s what enables the atmosphere to be so great, the level of play to be so high,” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said in a postgame press conference.
The win sure wasn’t handed to the Spiders, as in the early going, it was VCU that was in the driver’s seat.
The Spiders began play 0-for-5 from the floor and had to dig themselves out of a hole from the tip-off. Play was fast and back-and-forth to open up the first half, and VCU was making its open shots from the get go.
A little over five minutes into the game, the Rams had produced an 11-4 lead, but UR stuck with it and, over the course of the first 20 minutes, eked closer to VCU on the scoreboard.
The Spiders eventually tied things up, 18-18, after back-to-back possessions saw a back-door cut pass from graduate center Neal Quinn to graduate guard Jordan King for an easy layup and then a wide open drive and dunk from Quinn.
With 35 seconds to go before halftime, King hit a 3-pointer right over former Spider, Jason Nelson – who transferred to VCU after starting his collegiate career with UR – for the Spiders’ first lead of the night, 32-29. Nelson was met with boos from the crowd for the entire game.
Just when the Spiders thought they had the momentum, VCU came out of the halftime break and snatched it back, starting the second half on an 8-0 run, which gave the Rams a 37-32 lead.
By the 12:24 mark, however, the Spiders had reclaimed their lead and did not surrender it for the rest of the game. With 8:34 remaining in regulation, UR’s lead swelled to 10 points.
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Even though the Spiders did not give up the lead again, that’s not to say VCU didn’t go down without a fight. Some costly turnovers from UR with under five minutes to play made the score tighter. VCU’s full court pressure was giving the Spiders a hard time. UR finished the game with 11 turnovers.
Finally, UR was able to get down the floor without turning it over and with 4:36 to play, graduate forward Zae Bigelow grabbed on the rim and slammed it home to give the Spiders a 67-63 lead.
VCU remained within striking distance, but a breakaway slam from senior guard Dji Bailey with 45 seconds to go seemed to clinch things for the Spiders on the scoreboard.
With a little over a second to play, the Rams had cut the deficit to three points, but King was able to secure the ball and run out the final second en route to the win.
This is the Spiders’ first regular season win over VCU since 2020. UR defeated the Rams back in 2022 during the A-10 Tournament, but until this game, the Spiders had gone a little over four years without knocking down VCU during the regular season.
King finished with 27 points to lead the way for the Spiders, who had four other players in double figures. Senior guard DeLonnie Hunt had 16 points, Quinn had 12 points, Bailey had 11 points, and Bigelow had 10 points.
“Whether it was Tyler Harris’ 3 points or King’s 27, everybody that played in this game, they played a big part and even the ones on the bench did, so everything was very crucial,” Hunt said in a postgame press conference.
This win puts the Spiders’ record at 22-7 and 14-2 in conference play. They have already clinched the double-bye in the A-10 Tournament, which will take place from Mar. 12 to Mar. 17 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With one more win during the regular season, the Spiders will clinch the A-10 regular season title.
“We don’t really listen to the outside noise,” Hunt said. “Like I said in another interview, we hear it, we see it, but we know what we got in our locker room, and we’re just gonna keep finishing out the season the way we want to, and then we’ll handle all the critics by our play.”
UR’s next game is at home against Saint Joseph’s University at 7 p.m. Mar. 6.
Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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