Richmond Leader

Spiders lead wire-to-wire in win vs Rhode Island

 Tyler Burton scored a game-high 23 points to lead Richmond to a 64-57 win over Rhode Island at the Robins Center Tuesday. Burton scored the game's first seven points to give the Spiders a lead they would never relinquish as Richmond improved to 11-8 overall, 4-2 in the Atlantic 10, and 9-1 at home this season.
 
"I thought we played very well defensively tonight," said Spider Head Coach Chris Mooney. "The two things we emphasized were transition defense because they're so aggressive in transition and rebounding the ball off the defensive backboard, which I think we did a good job of."
 
Tuesday was the ninth time the Spiders have held their opponents under 60 points this season, one fewer game than the last two seasons combined (10).
 
"I think our confidence is growing on the defensive end," said Burton. "We're really starting to just sit down, plug the gaps, and really make it hard for teams to score. There were a lot of times tonight where they had some tough shots late in the shot clock. Some went in, some didn't, but that's what you want to do on the defensive end. You want to make them take tough shots late in the shot clock."
 
After Burton scored Richmond's first seven points, center Neal Quinn added a pair of layups as Richmond looked to establish itself in the paint. Quinn would finish with 14 points as the Spiders totaled 40 points in the paint, their second most in a game this season.
 
"That's the most shot attempts he's taken tonight," said Mooney of Quinn's 11 field goal attempts. "That's really important for us. … He can be even more aggressive, to be honest."
 
The Spiders led by as many as nine in the first half before Rhode Island scored the final five points going into the locker room to cut Richmond's lead to 31-27 at halftime.
 
The teams combined for just one point the first three-and-half minutes after halftime before Jason Nelson hit a three-pointer and followed it with a layup, kickstarting the Spiders offense with his first points of the night.
 
The Spiders built their lead to as many as 15 later in the half and were never seriously threatened down the stretch.
 
Richmond has won five straight games vs Rhode Island, the longest win streak by either team in series history. The Spiders have won four of their last five games overall and are in fourth place in the Atlantic 10 at 4-2.
 
Next up for UR is a matchup with VCU in the Richmond Area Honda Dealers Capital City Classic. The Spiders will host the Rams Friday at 7 PM in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.
  

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