Derrick Williams went up once under the hoop, and missed in traffic. Then he did it again, and again, and again, and again. On his fourth offensive rebound of his own misses on the possession, Williams, a 6-foot-6, 275-pound sophomore, drew a foul, and the loudest ovation of the evening.
That sequence defined the University of Richmond's 78-76 Atlantic 10 Conference win against La Salle before 4,028 at the Robins Center on Wednesday night.
Williams had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and scored the winning points, fittingly on a follow, with 5.8 seconds remaining. La Salle's Ramon Galloway tried to shoot a 25-footer at the buzzer after an Explorers timeout, but Spiders defender Darien Brothers reached in and knocked away the ball before Galloway got off his jumper.
Williams was so agitated in the lane with the ball at one point in the second half that UR coach Chris Mooney removed him.
"In games prior, we weren't as physical and aggressive as we could be," Williams said. "So I got a little wound up. I was just everywhere. I needed to calm down and collect myself."
Richmond (13-12, 4-6) had lost three straight and five of six before overpowering the smallish Explorers (17-8, 6-4). Heading into this game, UR had scored only 24.5 percent of its points in the paint, and was getting outrebounded by an average of seven boards. The Spiders had 19 offensive boards (16 second-chance points) and outrebounded the Explorers 45-27.
"We had a size advantage, and you just want to continue to use it," said Williams, who scored 14 of his points and grabbed 10 of his rebounds after halftime.
Redshirt freshman guard Wayne Sparrow played a career-high 21 minutes in UR's previous game, and scored seven. Sparrow, a 6-4 Baltimore resident, scored 10 and had five rebounds in 17 minutes against La Salle.
"When you're in his situation, you're trying to really firmly establish yourself in the rotation," said Mooney. "He's done more than that."
Darrius Garrett collected six of Richmond's eight blocks, and UR went to the free-throw line 24 times and made 21. Williams was 10 for 12.
Sparrow's defense helped stop La Salle's shooters from sinking the Spiders. The Explorers had eight 3-pointers at the break, and hit five in a row during one stretch, giving them a 32-21 lead. La Salle finished with 10 3-pointers.
"The first half, we just (weren't) getting out quick enough," Sparrow said. "We had a hand up, but it wasn't close enough to the offensive player. We just needed to get closer in the second half, and I think we did that."
During Richmond's 81-72 loss at Duquesne on Saturday, Williams had a comparable size mismatch. La Salle, like Duquesne, plays four guards on a regular basis. But in Pittsburgh, Williams did not take advantage until late in the game.
"It's on his assertiveness, on his ability, to make that happen," Mooney said of Williams. "Tonight, he was just tremendous, and the clear difference in the game."
The Spiders play George Washington at the Robins Center on Saturday at 5 p.m., in an A-10 game that will be televised by ESPNU. GW beat UR 83-65 in Washington on Jan. 18. The Colonials (8-16, 3-7), who lost 79-72 at Temple on Wednesday night, shot 58.2 percent against the Spiders, 69.2 percent in the second half.
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