RICHMOND — Old Dominion was ultimately unable to withstand Richmond’s late-game efforts, falling 86-77 in an in-state clash against the Spiders on Saturday.
The game — which hearkened back to days in which the two schools used to compete against one another in the CAA — was anyone’s for the taking in the first half.
Old Dominion held a one-point lead at 36-35 at the break, but neither team was able to create too much separation early.
Richmond came out of the halftime break with energy, and a 12-3 run gave the Spiders a 47-39 lead just over four minutes into the second half. Old Dominion, however, was eventually able to
claw its way back and tie the game at 56 with 9:07 to go thanks to a 3-pointer from Robert Davis Jr.
Davis Jr. hit five 3-pointers in the contest, and proved to be a bright spot for the Monarchs, finishing with 17 points.
Old Dominion’s other stars on the offensive end included LJ Thomas, who finished with 19 points, KC Shaw with 17 and Jordan Battle with 11.
Shaw’s aggressiveness was an especially welcome sight as the senior guard — who is averaging
14.6 points per game this season — had not played since the Monarchs’ Nov. 18 loss to Xavier
due to an ankle injury.
“(Shaw) provides a dynamic to our team because he is able to create by getting to the rim, and on
a team with the shooters that we have, he is going to have opportunities to do that,” Old
Dominion head coach Mike Jones said. “So having him back and getting him closer to 100%,
again, that’s one of the reasons why I’m so excited for what we will be. We clearly aren’t there
now, but we will be.”
The Monarchs and Spiders traded baskets to make the score 58-58 with a little over 8 minutes
remaining, but Richmond then exploded for a 10-0 run that gave the team some space.
Down the stretch, Old Dominion never truly went away, and with 2:17 to play, was able to cut a
deficit that was once double digits to just three points at 74-71.
Almost a minute later, however, a block by Richmond’s Mike Walz led to a fast-break dunk in the open court for Jaden Daughtry, giving the Spiders a 78-71 cushion with under a minute and a
half to play.
From that point, Richmond was in the driver’s seat, handing Old Dominion its fourth consecutive and seventh overall loss of the season.
“Just a couple of plays here and there really killed us,” Jones said. “Obviously, Richmond played
well, did a lot of really good things, but in that game it was a play here, a play there that just you
look up, it’s a tie game, then you look up and you’re down seven.”
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