PHILADELPHIA The game was tied, 3.7 seconds remained, and Derrick Williams was on the free-throw line in what would become, after a touch of weirdness, a 52-49 University of Richmond win at Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday night.
“Concentrate. Clear my head. Shoot them as I normally do,” the Spiders’ sophomore forward said of his thought process.
Williams’ first free throw swished, putting UR ahead 50-49. The second one “kind of danced on me,” he said. The ball bounced around the rim and spilled out, rebounded by Hawk Halil Kanacevic. He immediately called time out. But SJU had none left, resulting in a technical foul.
Darien Brothers hit both technical free throws to give the Spiders a 52-49 lead. SJU’s Carl Jones missed a running 25-footer at the horn in this Atlantic 10 Conference game played before 3,951 at Hagan Arena.
There were no secrets. These teams met three weeks ago, when SJU won 70-60, and defenses were sharp in the rematch.
“Last time we let them get an inside presence, and they scored a lot of points inside,” said UR forward Francis-Cedric Martel. “They got their big guys going. We did not want to let that happen again.”
Richmond (15-14, 6-8) was handicapped by foul trouble experienced by Williams and 6-foot-9 Darrius Garrett. But the 6-6 Martel and 6-5 Greg Robbins battled the big men of the Hawks (18-11, 8-6) well enough that Richmond was not overwhelmed in the second half.
“That was one of the keys to the game,” said UR coach Chris Mooney. “When we had to go small, dictated by foul trouble, we were able to really hang in there, and defend very, very well.”
UR gained an advantage by hitting four 3-pointers in the first 5:30 of the second half, and led 44-33 with 10 minutes left. SJU countered with 3s, and UR committed shot-clock violations on three straight possessions while trying to eat time.
Williams, the 6-6, 275-pounder who scored 17, hit three 3-point shots. But his inside force helped UR through some difficult offensive stretches and, ultimately, won the game.
“Derrick is going to score, or get free throws, if we get him the ball inside,” Martel said.
The Spiders and Hawks were tied after Jones hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left. There didn’t seem to be any question what UR wanted to do. The Spiders kept possession on the perimeter, and then sent it in to Williams on the right block with five seconds left. Williams scored only six when SJU beat UR at the Robins Center on Feb. 1.
“I learned that I need to make my moves quicker,” Williams said. That quickness seemed to surprise SJU shot-blocker C.J. Aiken, who fouled Williams on the play with 3.7 seconds left.
For UR, this was a chance to start a late-season push against a demanding final set of A-10 opponents. The Spiders play on Saturday night play at Xavier (17-10, 8-5), which is 11-3 at home, and then close their regular season against Dayton at the Robins Center on Wednesday.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement