NCAA
Richmond 76, Duquesne 64
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Richmond left nothing to chance in its Atlantic 10 tournament opener, scoring the first nine points of the second half to break open a close game and advance past Duquesne 76-64 Thursday at the Barclays Center in New York.
The seventh-seeded Spiders (19-13) snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the 17th in the past 18 meetings with the 10th-seeded Dukes (13-17). Richmond faces second-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Rams received a bye into the quarters.
Richmond’s 2013 Atlantic 10 tournament ended in inglorious fashion, as the Spiders were called for three technical fouls in the final 4.7 seconds of an opening-round, 68-63 loss to Charlotte. There was no danger of a second collapse this time, thanks to the Spiders’ performance after intermission.
After taking a 32-26 lead into halftime, the Spiders pushed the lead to 15 before the Dukes next found the basket. Duquesne wouldn’t get the margin back to single digits until forward Ovie Soko hit a 3-pointer with 1:28, capping a 12-2 run that made it 68-59.
Six consecutive made free throws helped Richmond hold off Duquesne’s late charge.
Forward Terry Allen scored 27 points to lead the Spiders. Richmond guard Kendall Anthony’s 23 points included an 11-for-11 performance at the foul line. Spiders forward Alonzo Nelson-Ododa added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Soko’s 23 points and 13 rebounds led Duquesne. Forwards Dominique McKoy and L.G. Gill each added 10 points for the Dukes.
