Spiders extend skid with loss at VCU

The University of Richmond men’s basketball team suffered another setback at Virginia Commonwealth University Feb. 1 in what marked the halfway point of their 18-game Atlantic 10 conference slate. 

UR’s seventh straight loss came in blowout fashion, as the Rams started fast en route to a 90-49 win. 

“No positive takeaways; We’ve really competed this season even though we haven’t had a ton of success and wins.” UR Head Coach Chris Mooney said in a postgame press conference. “Tonight it felt like we didn’t.”

The teams traded points to open scoring, but it did not take long for things to slip away from the Spiders, who gave up four straight turnovers to turn a 3-2 scoreline into a 12-3 hole five minutes into the game.

Redshirt first-year forward Ryan Soulis and sophomore guard Mikkel Tyne each tallied to chip into the Rams’ lead as the game approached ten minutes in, but on 3/11 shooting from the field, UR did little work as their deficit grew to 22-7.

Shots continued to fall for VCU, which held UR to just one basket from the field in the final ten minutes before halftime. The Spiders’ supplemented their two points in this window with four drained free throws, but the Rams shooting 57% from beyond the arc ballooned their lead to 31 going into the break.

A galvanized UR side burst into the second half on a 13-5 run as senior guard Jason Roche and graduate guard B. Artis White combined for eleven points off a trio of VCU turnovers. It did not take long for the Rams to tighten their defense however, responding with a 16-4 run of their own to swing back momentum.

Down the stretch, graduate forward Dusan Neskovic and junior forward Apostolos Roumoglou took over for UR, scoring 13 of their final 19 points as Neskovic finished with a team-leading 12 points on the night. 

The Spiders continued to play VCU within 10 points on the half, but with their strong first-half outing, the Rams had quashed UR’s comeback bid before it could start.

UR’s seventh consecutive conference defeat sent the Spiders to a 7-15 overall record, with a 2-7 A10 record remaining conference-worst along with Fordham University.

The Rams 90-point night kept them in contention for the top spot in the A10, with their 7-2 conference record just one game worse than A10-leading George Mason University. VCU also claimed the season-high single-game field goal percentage in the A10 with the win; their 64.7% mark bested the previous record of 62.8% set by GMU against University of North Carolina Asheville.

“We need to regroup,” Mooney said. “Hopefully we’ll be better because of it, and not hang our heads, but get to work.”

UR will look to right the ship on Feb. 5 at 7p.m, squaring off at home against Duquesne University.

Contact sports editor Scott Valentine at scott.valentine@richmond.edu