Wednesday, December 22
Richmond, Va.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-9,0-0Patriot
50
at
81
Richmond
9-4,0-0Atlantic 10
1
2
F
Bucknell
26
24
50
Richmond
37
44
81
Photo by: Jon Lambert
Richmond Breaks Open Tight Game with Late Flurry, Wins 81-50
12/22/2021 6:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. – Trailing a veteran Richmond team by just 10 points with eight minutes remaining, Bucknell fell victim to a staggering run from Nick Sherod and the Spiders, who pulled away for an 81-50 win on Wednesday afternoon at the Robins Center.
Sherod was 0-for-6 from 3-point range and scoreless in the game with nine minutes to play, but the sixth-year graduate student splashed five straight threes in just over five minutes to spark Richmond's game-changing 28-5 run.
Xander Rice led Bucknell (3-9) with 10 points, while Alex Timmerman had nine to go with six rebounds.
Grant Golden recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds for Richmond, which won its sixth straight to improve to 9-4. Sherod and Tyler Burton scored 15 apiece, while NCAA career steals leader Jacob Gilyard had five thefts along with 11 assists. Golden and Sherod played against Bucknell all the way back in 2016 at Sojka Pavilion, and those two along with Gilyard and Nathan Cayo were key players in the 2017 game here in Richmond.
"I thought we played really well at times for the first 30 minutes, but credit to Richmond, they just took the game over down the stretch, which is what veteran teams do," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Richmond is the best team on our schedule so far, and they showed why in the last few minutes. From our perspective, we scored when we moved the ball around and got paint touches, but Richmond makes it hard to do that consistently. Our guys have worked so hard academically and in practice, so they will get some well-deserved time off with their families, and we will get back to work on the 26th to prepare for a good Albany team."
The Bison started the day 8-for-11 from the field and led for about eight minutes in the first half, with early threes from Jake van der Heijden and Rice giving them early advantages. A fadeaway jumper in the lane from Malachi Rhodes provided Bucknell's largest lead at 16-12, but back-to-back turnovers sent Richmond on its way to an 11-2 run.
Treys from Rice and Timmerman stemmed the tide for a moment, and a minute later a long two from Rhodes brought the Bison within 30-26 at the 5:05 mark. But those would be Bucknell's final points of the half. The Bison missed their final six shots as the Spiders tallied the final seven points of the half to go to the locker room with its largest lead of 11 points at 37-26.
Bucknell started the second half 1-for-5, and layups by Golden and Burton gave the Spiders a 43-28 advantage and forced a quick Bison timeout. Bucknell hung around with a good defensive stretch, holding Richmond to just two field goals and four points over a span of 5:28. The Bison could only make a small dent in the deficit, however, as two layups and two 3-pointers rimmed in and out.
Josh Bascoe hung in the air for a tough shot in the lane, and Rice made Bucknell's only two free-throw attempts of the day to pull the Bison within 51-41 with 9:02 left. Sherod hit his first 3-pointer of the day with 8:40 to play. Local product Elvin Edmonds IV answered with a triple of his own to make it 54-44 with 8:28 left, but two straight transition buckets set the stage for a 3-point flurry that sent the Spiders on their way.
Sherrod added four more treys in a span of just 3:10, the last of which gave Richmond a commanding 72-46 lead with 3:13 to play. Reserve Connor Crabtree followed with Richmond's sixth 3-pointer in that late run, and Crabtree's dunk with 1:29 to go capped the 28-5 surge.
Bucknell shot 38.2 percent for the game, finishing 13-for-44 after the 8-for-11 start. The Bison went 6-for-19 from 3-point range.
Richmond finished at 53.1 percent overall – 57.6 percent in the second half – and went 9-for-28 from downtown. The Spiders forced 16 Bison turnovers and finished with 14 steals.
Bucknell will now take a week off before traveling to UAlbany on Dec. 29. That will be the final non-conference game of the regular season, with Patriot League play starting at Boston University on Jan. 1.
Sherod was 0-for-6 from 3-point range and scoreless in the game with nine minutes to play, but the sixth-year graduate student splashed five straight threes in just over five minutes to spark Richmond's game-changing 28-5 run.
Xander Rice led Bucknell (3-9) with 10 points, while Alex Timmerman had nine to go with six rebounds.
Grant Golden recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds for Richmond, which won its sixth straight to improve to 9-4. Sherod and Tyler Burton scored 15 apiece, while NCAA career steals leader Jacob Gilyard had five thefts along with 11 assists. Golden and Sherod played against Bucknell all the way back in 2016 at Sojka Pavilion, and those two along with Gilyard and Nathan Cayo were key players in the 2017 game here in Richmond.
"I thought we played really well at times for the first 30 minutes, but credit to Richmond, they just took the game over down the stretch, which is what veteran teams do," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Richmond is the best team on our schedule so far, and they showed why in the last few minutes. From our perspective, we scored when we moved the ball around and got paint touches, but Richmond makes it hard to do that consistently. Our guys have worked so hard academically and in practice, so they will get some well-deserved time off with their families, and we will get back to work on the 26th to prepare for a good Albany team."
The Bison started the day 8-for-11 from the field and led for about eight minutes in the first half, with early threes from Jake van der Heijden and Rice giving them early advantages. A fadeaway jumper in the lane from Malachi Rhodes provided Bucknell's largest lead at 16-12, but back-to-back turnovers sent Richmond on its way to an 11-2 run.
Treys from Rice and Timmerman stemmed the tide for a moment, and a minute later a long two from Rhodes brought the Bison within 30-26 at the 5:05 mark. But those would be Bucknell's final points of the half. The Bison missed their final six shots as the Spiders tallied the final seven points of the half to go to the locker room with its largest lead of 11 points at 37-26.
Bucknell started the second half 1-for-5, and layups by Golden and Burton gave the Spiders a 43-28 advantage and forced a quick Bison timeout. Bucknell hung around with a good defensive stretch, holding Richmond to just two field goals and four points over a span of 5:28. The Bison could only make a small dent in the deficit, however, as two layups and two 3-pointers rimmed in and out.
Josh Bascoe hung in the air for a tough shot in the lane, and Rice made Bucknell's only two free-throw attempts of the day to pull the Bison within 51-41 with 9:02 left. Sherod hit his first 3-pointer of the day with 8:40 to play. Local product Elvin Edmonds IV answered with a triple of his own to make it 54-44 with 8:28 left, but two straight transition buckets set the stage for a 3-point flurry that sent the Spiders on their way.
Sherrod added four more treys in a span of just 3:10, the last of which gave Richmond a commanding 72-46 lead with 3:13 to play. Reserve Connor Crabtree followed with Richmond's sixth 3-pointer in that late run, and Crabtree's dunk with 1:29 to go capped the 28-5 surge.
Bucknell shot 38.2 percent for the game, finishing 13-for-44 after the 8-for-11 start. The Bison went 6-for-19 from 3-point range.
Richmond finished at 53.1 percent overall – 57.6 percent in the second half – and went 9-for-28 from downtown. The Spiders forced 16 Bison turnovers and finished with 14 steals.
Bucknell will now take a week off before traveling to UAlbany on Dec. 29. That will be the final non-conference game of the regular season, with Patriot League play starting at Boston University on Jan. 1.
Team Stats
Buck
UR
FG%
.382
.531
3FG%
.316
.321
FT%
1.000
.667
RB
28
37
TO
16
8
STL
7
14
Game Leaders
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
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