Richmond 86, No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth 74 (OT): Sophomore guard Kendall Anthony came off the bench to score a game-high 26, including 5-for-9 shooting from deep, as the host Spiders got hot late to upset their crosstown rival Rams in the Black & Blue Classic.
Richmond (13-7, 3-2 Atlantic 10) received 18 points from Darien Brothers, who matched Anthony's clutch shooting late. The Spiders shot 12-for-27 from beyond the arc. Cedrick Lindsay added 13 points and Deion Taylor chipped in 10.
Juvonte Reddic finished with 20 points and 10 boards for Virginia Commonwealth (16-4, 4-1), which lost for the first time since Nov. 24. Treveon Graham finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Melvin Johnson came off the bench to score 12. The Rams knocked down 3 of 17 3-point attempts.
Anthony drained a 3-pointer to close the Spiders' deficit to just one with 13 seconds left and, after two Ram free throws, Brothers hit another triple with a second left to force overtime. Richmond needed a 13-4 run over the last 34 seconds to stay alive.
The Spiders opened the overtime frame with a 10-3 spurt, highlighted by another Anthony 3-pointer. Brothers nailed the dagger from deep, though, giving Richmond an eight-point lead with 1:32 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth met for the first time as conference mates since 2001. The Rams left the Colonial Athletic Association for the Atlantic 10 before this season. … The Spiders played without their second-leading scorer, Derrick Williams, for the sixth straight game. He is expected to miss at least two more weeks. … Virginia Commonwealth still leads the all-time series 41-26.
VCU | Richmond | |
Juvonte Reddic 20 | Scoring | Kendall Anthony 26 |
Rob Brandenberg 2 | Assists | Cedrick Lindsay 3 |
Treveon Graham 10 | Rebounds | Greg Robbins 8 |
Juvonte Reddic 8 | Free Throws Made | Kendall Anthony 7 |
Briante Weber 2 | Steals | Darien Brothers 2 |
Rob Brandenberg 1 | Blocks | Alonzo Nelson-Ododa 2 |