Tournaments can often be beneficial for teams in the long run.
In the case of the University of Richmond men’s basketball team, the Gulf Coast Showcase was the first time its squad took a significant road trip together, which meant a chance to play several games over a short period of time and learn a lot about its identity.
Given the ups and downs throughout the three games of this showcase, it’s unclear at this point whether or not the Spiders have found their identity.
Following a momentum-swinging second half 73-60 comeback win against Ball State University on Nov. 27, however, UR may just leave Fort Myers, Florida, having taken a leap in the right direction as a team after all.
The Spiders came into play needing a victory, not only so they could improve their record to .500 on the season again, but so they could exit their pre-Thanksgiving slate of games with another win under their belt.
And while it took until the 9:57 mark of the second half to actually set in motion its eventual victory, UR was able to do just that.
The Spiders got off to a strong start shooting in the first half, as sophomore guard Mikkel Tyne and junior forward Apostolos Roumoglou hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give UR an early 6-0 lead. Eventually, however, Ball State would settle into its groove and find success of its own on the offensive end.
The Cardinals took the lead from the Spiders for the first time with 9:35 to play in the first half. And while UR was able to take it back from Ball State once before the break, the Cardinals had already established themselves as the drivers of the momentum, with the Spiders having to play catch-up yet again in this showcase.
It did not help that UR was held to just one point over the course of a stretch that lasted almost six and a half minutes while Ball State took command over the game.
By the 14:01 mark in the second half, the Spiders found themselves down by 11 points, as the Cardinals had opened up the final 20 minutes of play on a 15-7 run.
Luckily for UR, the Spiders would crawl their way back to knot things up on the scoreboard thanks to a 13-2 run of their own. A 3-pointer from Roumoglou tied the score 50-50 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game, and from that moment on, it was UR that was in full control.
The Spiders ultimately sustained a 23-10 run to close out play, which gave UR its second win of the showcase and fourth win of the season. UR started the showcase with a win over the Florida Institute of Technology on Nov. 25, followed by a loss to Louisiana State University on Nov. 26.
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“It’s early,” graduate guard DeLonnie Hunt said in a postgame interview with the Spider Sports Network. “We’re still a new team. And it’s about little things like responding to adversity. We’re gonna go through rough patches, but it’s just best that we figure out how to get through them early rather than later in the season.”
The Spiders’ starting backcourt pair of Hunt and Tyne combined for 50 of the Spiders’ 73 points, with Hunt chipping in 28 and Tyne tallying 22 on the night. Hunt and Tyne were the only two Spiders in double figures.
“Definitely want to be the floor general, but as I said before the season started, I’m really big on just doing whatever it takes to win,” Hunt said.
UR’s next game is not until 12 p.m. on Dec. 8 when the Spiders will face the Auburn University Tigers at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.
Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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