Another nail-biter for the University of Richmond men’s basketball team swung in favor of its opponent, as the Spiders lost 65-62 to Louisiana Tech University in game two of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 26.
The Spiders had a chance to take the lead after forcing a Bulldog turnover with 1:18 to play, but a missed shot gave Louisiana Tech University the ball with under a minute remaining in the game. What ensued was a foul called on junior forward Jonathan Beagle, which gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead with 2.4 seconds to play.
A technical foul was then called on UR Head Coach Chris Mooney as the Spiders called a timeout, giving Louisiana Tech free throws that led to a three-point lead for the Bulldogs.
“Just surprised to see that with two seconds to go to decide the game,” Mooney said in a postgame interview with the Spider Sports Network, responding to the late-game foul call.
Graduate guard DeLonnie Hunt’s last-second heave was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Spiders’ first chance of the season to win three straight games was ripped from them.
The Spiders moved back to a .500 record following its win over the Florida Institute of Technology on Nov. 25, but just under 24 hours later, back to below .500 it was.
UR once again began the game on its heels in the first half of play. The Spiders did get out to a 3-0 lead following a 3-pointer from junior forward Apostolos Roumoglou to start the game, but by the 7:48 mark, Louisiana Tech had surged ahead 24-16.
Eventually, however, the Spiders took back the lead, and by the end of the first half, had moved in front of the Bulldogs by eight points, 35-27.
It looked as if the momentum was still on UR’s side coming out of the halftime break, as the Spiders were up by eight points by the 16:48 mark in the second half, but Louisiana Tech ultimately took over on the scoreboard. This meant UR would have to play catch-up the rest of the way.
With 1:32 to play, Hunt scored to tie the game at 62 apiece. Hunt was also the one who picked up a steal on the Bulldogs’ next possession to give the Spiders the ball and an opportunity to gain the advantage over Louisiana Tech. A Beagle miss, however, gave the Bulldogs the ball back and UR did not score for the remainder of the contest, losing 65-62.
Hunt led the way in the scoring column with 26 points – his third game with 26 or more points this season.
No other Spider scored in double-digits, but other strong contributions came from graduate forward Dusan Neskovic, who had nine points, junior center Mike Walz, who had seven points, and junior forward Apostolos Roumoglou, who had six points to go along with 10 rebounds.
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“It’s one game,” Walz said in the postgame interview with the Spider Sports Network. “We gotta play tomorrow as well. We can’t let this translate, can’t let this feeling translate into a bad start tomorrow.”
The Spiders’ next game is their final of the Gulf Coast Showcase. They will play Ball State University at 6 p.m. on Nov. 27 – UR’s last matchup before an 11-day off-period before its next game against Auburn University on Dec. 8.
“We’re a tough team, we’re a gritty team, we care a lot, we got talented players, and I’m excited to see what the rest of these 30 games look like for us,” Walz said.
Contact sports editor Jimmy James at jimmy.james@richmond.edu.
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