RICHMOND — A late 3-pointer from Reese Miller tied the game with under a minute to play, but a five-point Richmond run swung things back in the Spiders’ favor, ultimately leading William & Mary to its first loss of the season, 90-86, Tuesday night.
This was the fourth-straight year in which the Tribe matched up with the Spiders following an eight-year drought where the former conference rivals did not meet. William & Mary won the previous contest 97-93 at Kaplan Arena, but this year, Richmond prevailed.
In this year’s iteration, neither the Tribe nor the Spiders could create any meaningful separation on the scoreboard in a contest riddled with fouls and lead changes. There were 77 free throws attempted and 12 lead changes.
“Wish we would have come home with a victory, make a couple more shots and just a little more disciplined on defense, but (the Spiders) play hard, and they’re fun to watch as well,” W&M coach Brian Earl said. “So we have to learn from it.”
Richmond’s Mikkel Tyne hit what appeared to be a dagger 3-pointer with just over three minutes to go, putting the Spiders up by eight points — their largest lead of the game — but William & Mary clawed back and made a game of it until the final minute.
But Miller’s 3-pointer to even the score 82-82 was negated by the Spiders’ next two possessions, as AJ Lopez, who transferred to Richmond from Maine this year, tallied a five-point swing of his own thanks to two layups, the second of which was an and-one.
Lopez’s aggressiveness down the stretch helped his team solidify a 3-0 start the season, a feat Richmond has not accomplished since the 2020-21 campaign.
William & Mary’s full-court press created difficulty for Richmond , but the Spiders ultimately prevailed against their in-state opponent.
“Because it’s such a close game, lots of swings, there’s a lot of intensity, there’s a lot of highs and lows, and I thought we managed it well enough to win the game,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. “(William & Mary’s) style is extremely challenging to play against, the pressure, how aggressive they are shooting 3s in transition, in their offense, that was hard for us to adjust to.”
Despite the loss, the Tribe continued to showcase the depth that helped W&M in wins against Georgian Court and Norfolk State to begin the season.
William & Mary’s bench helped pave the way in the scoring column, as the Tribe’s second unit accounted for 40 of the Tribe’s 86 points, with Miller’s 18 points leading the way.
Other double-figure scorers included Kyle Pulliam (16 points), Cade Haskins (14 points) and Ryan Jackson Jr. (10 points).
“I’ve mentioned to my team, I don’t care much about the starting five,” Earl said. “There’s so much fanfare that comes with a starting five, it’s gotten away from us a little bit. And so, if you ask me if the best five players on my team are in the starting five, I don’t know if I would say yes. And so, that’s expected of the guys who come off the bench.”
The Tribe (2-1) continues a three-game road trip, next taking on coach Rick Pitino and No. 13 St. John’s (1-1) on Nov. 15. After that, W&M plays at Bowling Green before the schedule eases up a bit with matchups against Regent, UTEP and Abilene Christian.
