The University of Richmond men’s basketball team made a spectacle out of its last home game of the season in a thriller against the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks.
When the dust had settled, it was a 73-66 Spider victory on March 6 that saw the nets cut down, as UR clinched its first Atlantic 10 regular season title since joining in the 2001-2002 season.
“It’s just such a tremendous accomplishment,” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said after the game. “I’m just so proud of the guys, so honored to be their coach… just to be this good and have these guys come together as quickly as they did… it’s really special.”
It was a particularly memorable game for senior guard DeLonnie Hunt and graduate center Neal Quinn, who led the Spiders with 39 combined points.
Hunt’s 18 points set a new career high as a Spider, while the first 6 of Quinn’s 21 point night proved instrumental in a fast 15-8 UR lead to begin the contest.
The Hawks clawed their way back within two points quickly, leveraging their height advantage to clog the paint defensively. SJU’s perimeter coverage was similarly effective as the Hawks began to chip away at the lead, and they would end up holding the Spiders to a season-low nine 3-point attempts.
The adaptation to the Hawks’ speed and size for UR was swift, however, as quick transitions and even quicker ball movement soon became key. In multiple instances, SJU was forced into fouling by how quickly the Spiders were able to turn defensive rebounds into dangerous offensive breakaways.
UR rolled into halftime commanding a 36-27 lead. Hunt and Quinn led the effort with 13 and 8 points respectively, although the Spiders saw contributions from several other scorers. Graduate forward Isaiah Bigelow tacked on 6 points by exploiting soft coverage in the short corner, while sophomore center Mike Walz kept the Hawks from cashing in on several layups on the other side of the ball.
The opening moments of the second half belonged to Quinn, as he supplied 7 of the Spiders’ first 8 points out of the break. The run was highlighted by a putback and-one dunk of a Bigelow layup which pushed the lead from 9 to 14.
SJU notched consecutive 3-pointers to break its skid and bring the lead back down to eight, but it would be well down the stretch before the margin dwindled any further.
Both teams traded scoreless possessions as the second half passed its halfway point, dialing up the defense until both sides had recorded multiple turnovers over a 3-minute scoring drought.
The Hawks began a creep toward the Spiders’ lead with a steal and subsequent dunk to cut the lead to 7. Although UR responded quickly, the deficit nonetheless shrunk to single digits as the game wound down. It seemed that SJU was threatening with just under three minutes to play until Quinn found graduate forward Tyler Harris, whose game-sealing 3-pointer was met with cheers from the crowd.
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“I’m at a loss, you know? It’s so indescribable,” Quinn said after the game. “All the years of training and sacrifice so you can have a moment like this on your home floor… I’m beyond grateful to have this opportunity and to do it with these guys right here.”
The Spiders will visit George Mason University at 2:30 p.m. on March 9 to close out their regular season.
Contact sports writer Scott Valentine at scott.valentine@richmond.edu.
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