With just one win on its record through the first four games of the season, the University of Richmond men’s basketball team entered game five in need of a victory to flip the script on the non-conference portion of its schedule.
Luckily for the Spiders, they were able to accomplish just that in a gritty 70-66 win over the University of Maine at the Robins Center on Nov. 20.
It was never a runaway on UR’s part by any means, as the Spiders trailed at halftime and had to fight their way past the Black Bears in the second half, but finally, after 14 days, the Spiders were able to return to the win column.
“You need to have that experience of a close game and make enough plays to win the game and those kinds of things, so that can make a world of difference for a team,” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said in the postgame press conference. “And tonight, for sure that’s how we felt, and really pleased, and hopefully we can build on it.”
After a low-scoring first half from both sides, with the Black Bears heading into the break ahead 27-25, the Spiders eventually created some separation en route to their second victory of the 2024 campaign.
Not even a minute into the second half, the Spiders and Black Bears were all knotted up at 27. What followed were back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guard Jason Roche and junior forward Apostolos Roumoglou which ignited the Spiders’ offense, and from that point, UR led on the scoreboard the rest of the way.
It was at the 6:43 mark when two free throws from graduate guard DeLonnie Hunt gave the Spiders an 11-point lead, which was their largest of the contest.
Hunt, who the Spiders have leaned on heavily for offensive production so far this season, did not score in the first half following a 26-point outing against Bucknell University on Nov. 16. He did pick things up in the second half, however, as he finished with 15 points.
“We want [Hunt] to continue to be that floor general and really know what’s going on, and he’s really embraced that,” Mooney said. “But we’ve also needed him to be super aggressive, and the more we can balance the scoring, the better it will be for everybody.”
And a balanced effort the Spiders got, with players like Roche and junior forward Jonathan Beagle sharing a significant chunk of that offensive load. Roche, who shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range, led all scorers with 19 points, while Beagle chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
This was Beagle’s second-straight start for the Spiders and third-straight game scoring in double-figures. Against Bucknell University on Nov. 16, he scored 23 points.
“[Beagle] has a chance to be a really great player,” Mooney said. “He can do everything. He’s comfortable handling the ball, he’s strong, he can score inside. We just want him to be even more aggressive. But he has worked very hard, he’s an incredible teammate, so these are all really good qualities for somebody who also has a potential to be a very good player or a great player.”
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The Spiders did commit 15 turnovers throughout the game, but where they eventually proved to have the edge was on the boards – out-rebounding the Black Bears 39-29 – and from 3-point range. Even though UR made just two more 3-pointers than Maine, the Spiders shot 40% from the arc while the Black Bears shot just 20%.
From Nov. 25 to Nov. 27, UR will compete in the Gulf Coast Classic. The Spiders will face the Florida Institute of Technology at 6 p.m. Nov. 25 and then take on Louisiana Tech University and Ball State University the following two days to finish out their pre-Thanksgiving tournament.
“We made some progress on offense, but we’re still not to what our max can be,” Roche said in the postgame press conference. “I think we could get a little bit more crisp on everything that we do – the quickness that we get into the offense. And then on defense, we still had a couple lapses that we need to clean up. So I think we’re far from a finished product obviously, and we’re looking forward to those three games in Fort Myers.”
Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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