[VIDEO] Spiders Shred Rams With Outside Shooting

KINGSTON – The final margin of victory for the Richmond University men’s basketball team was 17 points against the University of Rhode Island on Saturday night, but it could have been even worse for Rams’ fans.

For example, Richmond (10-7, 1-1 Atlantic 10) only shot 40 percent from 3-point range and 48.1 percent from the field in the first half. Considering they shot 63.6 percent and 57.7 percent from those ranges in the second, it could have been a 30+ point win for the Spiders with a little luck.

Darien Brothers finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting. He was the only Spider to really have to create his own shot, as Francis Martel, Darrius Garrett and Kendall Anthony feasted off a soft Rhody defense and drives by Brothers.

Anthony finished with 13 points, six assists and just one turnover. Martel also had 13 points, hitting all five shots he took, and Garrett had seven on 3-for-3 shooting.

In contrast, URI (3-13, 0-1 Atlantic 10) struggled to execute throughout on offense, excluding a small stretch toward the end of the first half. Trailing 23-12 with 7:35 remaining, the Rams cut the Richmond lead to 29-26 with 3:08 left, thanks to four free throws by Mike Powell, a dunk by Orion Outerbridge and a 3-point shot by Andre Malone.

However, the Spiders scored the next four points to close out the half, and led by as many as 22 in the second half. The Rams got within four early in the second half, then trailed off badly.

What little bright spots there were for the Rams come with caveats.

Malone had his best game as a Ram, scoring 10 points, but it took him nine shots and he also had three turnovers.

Outerbridge finished with a team-high seven rebounds, but with the team lacking Ryan Brooks and with Levan Shengelia’s foul trouble, Outerbridge played 31 minutes despite back spasms that prevented him from practicing.

Billy Baron had a team-high 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting, but half those points came in garbage time.

Powell drew eight foul shots and finished with 12 points, but had several ill-advised jumpers and only one assist despite playing 38 points.

The Rams will try to right the ship at George Washington (5-9, 0-1 Atlantic 10) 7 p.m. Wednesday.