RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — It was the type of game fans packed a sold-out Robins Center to see: An entertaining, back-and-forth contest that went down to the wire.
In part I of this season’s Capital City Classic – which by all means was a classic – VCU remained unbeaten in Atlantic 10 conference play and ran its winning streak to eight in a row after outlasting host Richmond 94-89 at the Robins Center Saturday afternoon.
The game was tightly contested from the tip, as neither side gained a double-digit advantage throughout. The second half was particularly close, as the lead changed seemingly each possession. After ShawnDre’ Jones, T.J. Cline and Terry Allen combined to score all but two of Richmond’s points during the first half, Trey Davis carried the Spiders down the stretch scoring all 16 of his points during the final 20 minutes.
Despite opening the extra period a woeful 0-4 from the free-throw line, Richmond held a 89-88 lead with just over two minutes to play thanks to a clutch three-point play from Jones, who led four Spiders in double figures with 26 points.
With VCU leading 91-90 after a pair of made free throws from Melvin Jones, Allen missed a jumper at the other end for Richmond, which led to two more free throws for the Rams.
Richmond got one last shot trailing 92-89 with :03 left on the clock, but their last-second attempt at a game-tying 3 was thwarted by VCU big man Mo Alie-Cox, who skied to intercept the inbounds pass at midcourt before gliding in for a vicious one-handed dunk to put an explanation point on the Rams’ victory.
For a look back, below is a rundown of live, in-game updates.
First Half
19:05 – JeQuan Lewis slashes to basket for first bucket of the game
18:40 – Terry Allen 3 from the corner gets Richmond on the board
18:25 – Steal for Richmond leads to layup for Cline, Spiders lead 5-2
16:38 – Back-to-back layups for ShawnDre’ Jones and T.J. Cline, Spiders go ahead 9-4
15:05 – Richmond goes up 13-9 on nice fastbreak pull-up from S. Jones.
MTO – Cline (6 points), Jones (4pts) w/ 10 of Richmond’s 13 points. The Spiders are playing aggressive, getting most of their points in the paint.
14:40 – NASTY FINISH! S. Jones with the shake-and-bake, finish at the rim PLUS a foul. 3-point play puts Richmond ahead 16-9
14:05 – Let’s get him going … T. Allen with the Dirk Nowitzki-style one-footed baseline fadeaway. Richmond leads 18-11 after D. Taylor layup for Rams.
Quick hit – S. Jones, (7 pts), T.J. Cline (6 pts) & T. Allen (5 pts) have accounted for all of Richmond’s offense so far. Spiders hold 18-13 advantage w/ 11:57 to play in 1st half
11:30 – Crowd does not like second traveling call in as many possessions against home team. Floater from VCU’s J. Tillman brings Rams within 3, 20-15
9:35 – Cline finds S. Jones on the wing FOR THREE! Jones leads all scorers w/ 11 points. Spiders lead 24-15.
6:35 – After 8-2 run by VCU, S. Jones with jumper from FT line gives Richmond 28-23 lead
4:30 – In midst of 12-4 run by VCU, T. Allen throws down one-handed dunk to ignite crowd. 30-27 Spiders.
3:50 – AND ONE! T. Allen with the nice post move, turnaround & finish. Richmond leads 32-29; FT coming for Allen after the TO
2:33 – Spiders in the bonus now. Cline sinks 2-2, gives Richmond 35-31 lead.
1:30 – J. Lewis 3 from the corner gives VCU its first lead of the game, 36-35
:40 – T. Allen with the aggressive take & finish, puts Richmond back on top 37-36
:01 – J. Lewis pulls up from DEEP, beats buzzer with 3 to give VCU 39-37 halftime lead.
Halftime- VCU 39, Richmond 37
Quick thought: Other than one bucket from Marshall Wood, ShawnDre’ Jones (13 pts), T.J. Cline (10 pts) and Terry Allen (12 pts) have carried the entire scoring load offensively for Richmond. If Spiders can match the defensive intensity they displayed during the first 10 minutes, they’ll be in good shape. VCU hit the glass much harder down the stretch of the first half, a big reason the Rams climbed back to take the lead.
Leading scorers: Richmond – Jones (13), Allen (12), Cline (10); VCU – Lewis (13), Billbury (8)
Team stats: Shooting: Richmond 48%, VCU 42% (3-point 22%, 40%)
Turnovers: Richmond 6, VCU 7
Rebounds: Richmond 14, VCU 24
Second Half
18:40 – S. Jones picking up where he left off in 1st half. Slashes to the hoop for 2, then finds Cline with nice over-the-top pass for layup. Spiders trail 43-41
17:33 – T. Davis collects his own miss, puts it back off glass. Richmond ties it at 45-all after T. Allen elbow jumper.
16:05 – Spiders regain lead, 49-47, on Cline floater in the lane. Big man has 16 pts, 5 reb.
14:40 – Nice little run here for the Spiders … Well-executed out-of-bound play results in Cline easy 2 off glass, then S. Jones jumper gives Spiders 53-52 advantage.
12:45 – Back-and-forth pace here … 5-0 run by VCU capped by K. Billbury 3 gives Rams 55-53 lead.
11:15 – Cline continues to lead Richmond offensively, cuts deficit to one, 57-56. Then, crowd erupts as T. Davis turns turnover into 2 on the other end. Richmond leads 59-58
8:34 – Nice defensive series by Richmond to force shot clock violation. Spiders clinging to 62-61 lead
8:10 – BEAUTIFUL feed from S. Jones to T. Cline (Co-MVPs??) t0 give Richmond 66-63 lead
6:40 – Tough layup by M. Jones gives lead back to VCU, 67-66
6:25 0 BIG FTs from T. Allen (a 50% shooter from the line). He knocks down 2, puts Richmond on top 68-67
5:55 – Crowd the loudest it’s been all game after T. Davis steal and layup. Spiders lead 70-67
5:06 – Did I mention the second half has been back-and-forth? All of a sudden, VCU leads 71-70 after big 3 from K. Billbury
4:26 – About that whole back-and-forth thing … Yea. Marshall Wood responds with a 3 of his own to give Richmond 73-71 lead. VCU ties it after J. Lewis knocks down a pair from the line
3:47 – T. Davis driving, spins off defender, hangs, finishes. Spiders lead grows to four, 77-73
2:42 – Terry Allen ladies and gentleman … Gets stuffed on one end, hustles back to force steal and feed Davis for easy layup. Richmond ahead 79-75.
1:40 – Shaping up to be a great finish. Costly TO leads to layup for VCU, but Spiders still lead 81-79 out of timeout.
1:37 – OUCH! Richmond exits timeout with too many men on the floor, Melvin Johnson sinks technical FT for VCU. Spiders lead 81-80.
1:12 – With shot clock running low, T. Davis gets fouled driving to hoop. Hits both FTs, Spiders lead 83-80.
:45 – After T. Davis connects on 1 of 2 FT attempts, J. Tillman slams home easy dunk for VCU. We’re all tied at 84 with under 30 seconds to play.
:00 – No good! … S. Jones misses floater, M. Wood can’t finish stickback. VCU hustles down floor, J. Williams fall-away at the buzzer no good. WE’RE HEADED TO OVERTIME!
Overtime
4:35 – S. Jones finger roll good, Spiders score first in OT. Lead 86-84.
3:40 – M. Johnson hits jumper for VCU. All square 86-86.
2:45 – OUCH! Cline misses both at the line (Richmond 0-4 from the stripe during OT.) Then at the other end, Cline picks up 5th foul. His night is over.
2:40 – Alie-Cox hits 2 of 2 for VCU, Rams lead 88-86
2:15 – S. Jones creates off the dribble, spins off defender and finishes, PLUS the foul. 3-point play gives Richmond 89-88 lead
2:00 – M. Jones hits 2-2 from the FT line, VCU leads 90-89
:50 – S. Jones gets a good look at a pull-up but can’t connect. VCU has possession holding 1-point lead with under a minute to play. Strap in!
:05 – Richmond forces a stop on defensive end, but T. Allen can’t hit go-ahead jumper. M. Johnson hits 2-2 at the line. Rams lead 92-89, Richmond gets shot at game-tying three after TO.
:03 – Spiders’ last-second chance at game-tying 3 thwarted my Mo Alie-Cox, who steals inbounds pass and throws down thunderous slam at the buzzer.
FINAL: VCU 94, Richmond 89
Leading scorers: Richmond – Jones (26), Allen (18), Cline (22), Davis (16); VCU – Lewis (29), Billbury (20)
Team stats: Shooting: Richmond 51.5%, VCU 47.8% (3-point 16%, 37.5%)
Turnovers: Richmond 12, VCU 14
Rebounds: Richmond 34, VCU 45
