February 8, 2009 by Patrick Gill | A10CollegeHoops

RICHMOND, VA – St. Louis and Richmond had already competed for nearly 50 hard fought minutes, but apparently, Kevin Lisch was not ready to stop playing yet. With his team down 3 and only 4.6 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Lisch caught an inbounds pass on the right sideline, split a double team, and drained a three pointer at the buzzer to send the game into a third overtime. In the third overtime ,with the Billikens (5-4 A-10, 14-9) leading by one Lisch hit his fifth three of the game with 2:26 remaining and St. Louis went on to beat the Spiders (3-5, 11-12) 85-72 on Saturday afternoon. Lisch finished the contest with a game-high 27 points and his backcourt mate Kwamaine Mitchell added 23.

Early in the game it was clear points would be at a premium as both teams struggled to produce cohesive offensive possesions. Richmond’s match-up zone was able to limit the Billikens penetration and the St. Louis guards returned the favor by harassing the Spiders high-scoring back court. Despite Lisch’s timely shooting, the Spiders were able to maintain a small advantage, and went into halftime with a 2 point lead.

The second half was much of the same as the Spiders’ stingy defense allowed them to continue to possess a small lead the majority of the half. Late in regulation, Richmond’s offense came alive and David Gonzalvez capped a 7-2 run by hitting two free throws to give the Spiders a 58-52 lead with 3:07 remaining.

However, this would be the last time Richmond would find the bottom of the net in regulation, and Kwamain Mitchell capped of a 6-0 Billiken run by sinking two foul shots with a 1:23 remaining, to knot the score at 58. The teams then exchanged empty possessions enabling the Spiders to hold for the last shot. The Billikens dug in and forced an off-balance Kevin Anderson runner that bounced harmlessly off the rim and forced overtime.

In the first overtime, Richmond held a three point lead and the ball with 1:03 remaining but St. Louis turned two costly turnovers by David Gonzalez into three Billiken foul shots and a second extra session. With Richmond up one in the second overtime Kevin Anderson strolled to the line and calmly sank two foul shots to put the Spiders up three with 11 seconds remaining. Richmond then knocked the ball out of bounds on the right sideline with 4.6 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Lisch heroics.

When the senior caught the ball, it appeared Richmond’s Ryan Butler and David Gonzalvez had him trapped, but he was able to break loose and deliver the game’s biggest shot. On the decision not to foul at the end of the game, Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney stated, “We discussed fouling but they had not gotten many good looks at all…In retrospect we should have fouled there and made sure we got the defensive rebound on the intentional miss.”

Still reeling from letting the opportunity to close the game out slip away, the Spiders were outscored 14-1 in the third overtime and the Billikens walked out of the Robins center with a three game win streak.  Kevin Smith was the Spiders most effective offensive player in a game where they struggled to find open looks. The sophomore wing connected on seven of his ten field goal attempts and had several key buckets in crunch time. The usually efficient duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez combined for 29 points but were a subpar 10 of 32 from the field. Gonzalvez admitted the hard-nosed nature of the Billikens makes it tough to operate, “They’re a very physical team. They’re probably one of the best defensive teams in the conference.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Gonzalvez knows the Spiders cannot feel sorry for themselves with upstart Duquense coming to Robins Center on Wednesday. “We have to realize how close we close we are. It’s tough but we have to keep pushing.”

February 8, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Lavoy Allen scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in leading Temple to a 68-62 victory over Rhode Island on Sunday.

Dionte Christmas added 19 points and Craig Williams 12 for Temple (13-9, 5-3 Atlantic 10), which hit on 26 of 55 shots.

Keith Cothran had 16 points for Rhode Island (16-8, 5-4), while Jimmy Baron added 13.

The Owls led 48-30 five minutes into the second half, but Cothran helped rally the Rams to within 64-57 with 3:17 left to play. Rhode Island closed to 66-60 on a 3-point shot by Lamonte Ulmer with 1:36 to go, but Christmas hit two free throws at 0:19 to end the threat.

Baron, hampered by a sore back, played only 26 minutes, but connected on 5 of 6 shots in the game.

Massachusetts held the lead for most of the game, but St. Joseph’s found a way to battle back to a 68-64 win.

February 8, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10 College Hoops

CHARLOTTE, NC – The University of Dayton may be known as the Flyers, but the Charlotte 49ers were the high-flying team Sunday, coming out on top 79-66.

Although Chris “Top Flight” Wright is known nationally for his dunking ability, it was Charlotte’s Charlie Coley and Rashad Coleman who delivered the pulse-racing highlights. Coley flushed several great alley-oops delivered by Dijuan Harris, while Coleman threw down two dunks off offensive rebounds. Coleman also added punctuation to the victory by slamming a one-handed windmill with 3 seconds left in the game.

Dayton’s Wright, who many consider a potential 1^st round NBA draft pick, was virtually shut-out by Lamont Mack and the Niners stingy defense, scoring only 5 points the entire game. Wright also committed 5 turnovers and eventually fouled out of the game. Mack’s counter-performance of 20 points may have had something to do with who he was going head to head with.

“They were definitely cocky,” said Mack. “Chris Wright is a great player, and I give him respect for that, but I feel I’m a great player too.”

Dijuan Harris netted his 3^rd straight double-double, with 13 points and 12 assists. Regarding his performance, Harris had this to say:

“They did a good job subbing in guards and trying to wear me down throughout the course of the game. I countered that by using my 4-man to help me bring the ball down the court and picking my spots when they gave them to me. I think I did a good job handling the pressure tonight, and I came out with 12 assists and 1 turnover.”

Dijuan Harris salutes the crowd's standing ovation.

The first half was marked by physical defense. The refs seemed to let the players play, and many possible fouls were not called, much to the dismay of the hometown crowd. The crowd became overly boisterous and unruly. This built to a swell, and the team was charged with a technical foul for their performance. Charlotte swung the momentum back their way late in the half by drawing a pair of charges.

Chris Johnson dominated the first half for the Flyers, netting 13 points and 7 boards in just 11 minutes on the floor.

It was an overall impressive team performance for the 49ers, with timely buckets being scored by number of players. From Charlie Coley’s alley-oop dunks, to Coleman’s put-backs to Mack’s timely 3-pointers, everyone contributed for the Niners.

“It was a great team performance. We really feel like this is the Charlotte 49ers that we can be,” said Head Coach Bobby Lutz.

In all, 9 players scored for the 49ers.

Charlotte heads to St. Louis to face Coach Rick Majerus and his Billikens on Wednesday night. Up next for Dayton is a home game against 9^th ranked Xavier, also on Wednesday.

Press Conference with Dijuan Harris, Lamont Mack, Rashad Coleman and Coach Bobby Lutz

February 7, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Chris Matthews scored 15 points Saturday to help St. Bonaventure beat La Salle, 72-67.

Malcolm Eleby’s 14 points and nine rebounds were both season highs for the Bonnies (12-10, 3-6 Atlantic 10). Jonathan Hall and Andrew Nicholson had 12 points and eight rebounds apiece, with Nicholson adding six blocks.

Kimmani Barrett and Rodney Green scored 13 points each for La Salle (12-10, 3-5 Atlantic 10). Ruben Guillandeaux had 12 points, Darryl Partin scored 11 and Jerrel Williams added eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Bonnies held a 12-point lead with 2:24 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Partin ignited a 10-1 La Salle run that cut the lead to 68-65. The Explorers threatened to take the lead, but a slam-dunk by Nicholson with 36 seconds remaining sealed the Bonnies’ victory.

February 7, 2009 by Josh Taylor | A10CollegeHoops

PITTSBURGH, PA — Duquesne faced perhaps the most difficult task in their conference schedule as they hosted #9-ranked Xavier Saturday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center. But the home crowd was ready for what was promoted by their student section, “The Red and Blue Crew” as the “Game of the Year.”

The entire section donned red t-shirts, and helped set the tone for a packed house and a revved-up crowd, hoping to “Red Out” the Musketeers. The Dukes, similarly dressed in their red alternate uniforms, came ready to meet the challenge as they defeated the Musketeers, 72-68, completing their biggest upset win since an 88-87 victory against Providence (also ranked ninth) on January 31, 1974.

Duquesne jumped out to an early 12-7 lead following senior point guard Aaron Jackson’s breakaway slam with 15:19 to go in the first half. The Dukes’ lone upperclass scholarship player struck again about three minutes later with a drive for a lay-up to put them ahead 24-10.

Xavier took over the momentum as they went on a 14-4 run over the next 7:05 to cut the lead to only four points. During that span, both Duquesne sophomore swingman Bill Clark and freshman guard Eric Evans missed the front ends of 1-and-1 bonus free throws.

But Duquesne exploded for 10 unanswered points, capped off by another Jackson lay-up with 2:58 left in the half to put them ahead, 42-28.

“We knew our mismatch would cause some problems for them,” Jackson said, “and we knew we could get some easy buckets, run the floor and out-run them.”

When the dust settled from a frantic first half, Duquesne had a 15-point lead, and 26 combined points from Jackson, Clark, and freshman Melquan Bolding. Duquesne shot 81 percent from the floor in the first half, including 8-of-11 from three-point range, while Xavier struggled at only 41 percent.

“I just can’t say ‘thank you’ enough for the type of environment,” Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart said of the fans, “cause our kids really did feed off that tonight. I thought we borrowed a lot of energy and enthusiasm from the crowd, and when we started making shots early in the game and that crowd got loud, it was about as good a college basketball environment as you could imagine.”

Xavier forward Derrick Brown finished the game with 15 points, the majority from free throws, and guard B.J. Raymond shot 6-of-15 for 18 points.

The second half started with a 10-3 Xavier run to make it 48-40 less than five minutes in, but back-to-back three-pointers by Duquesne slowed down another rally as the score stretched out to 54-40 with 12:25 remaining.

The small Xavier following was silenced and greeted with cheers of, “Why so quiet?” by the Red and Blue Crew.

Jason Duty’s second three-pointer of the half put Duquesne ahead, 59-48 with 9:06 remaining. Duty, a junior walk-on guard who entered the game second in the conference in three-point percentage, finished with ten points (hitting two of five from behind the arc) and four assists.

Xavier continued to chip away at the lead, getting a few times to within five, and down to three with ten seconds remaining, but Duquesne kept their composure and answered whenever Xavier challenged to make a run to take the lead. Even as the Dukes went the final seven-plus minutes of the game without a field goal, they continued to knock down critical free throws down the stretch to keep the Musketeers within arm’s length.

As Jackson was fouled after a rebound on a missed free throw by Terrell Holloway with about 30 seconds left, the crowd exploded as the Dukes walked down the floor for a bonus free throw opportunity. On his way to the lower block, a small, wry grin creeped onto Clark’s face.

Duquesne was within arm’s reach of pulling off perhaps their biggest upset in 35 years, but they refused to get too high before the final horn sounded. After a late Xavier timeout, junior guard Jason Duty exulted the crowd in celebration, but Jackson waved his arms up and down at his teammates, settling them down.

“Not yet,” Jackson admonished.

When Clark hit the first of two foul shots with three seconds left to put Duquesne ahead 72-68, Clark clapped his hands in satisfaction.

“We’re going home, boys,” Clark said.

After Clark’s second attempt missed, he made a persistent effort to knock the rebound around the floor while the final seconds ticked away, and students begain mounting the railings on the stands and as the final horn sounded. Jackson, the veteran presence and emotional leader for the Dukes, led all scorers with 21 points and added five rebounds and three assists.

Fans came pouring onto the court, as Clark, who finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting (including a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc), pulled off his jersey and ran around the court waving it over his head. The big upset was complete.

“Obviously it was a big win for our basketball program, and I think it was one our kids deserve,” Everhart said. “They’ve been working extremely hard, and they played very hard tonight against the team that in every way is a top-10 basketball team in the country.”

For Jackson, who endured through a 3-24 season and survived the entire overhaul of a coaching staff after his freshman year, and a tragic event where he and four of his teammates were wounded in an on-campus shooting in his sophomore year, to win such a big game as a senior immediately etched a special place in his heart.

“We brought something really special back to the Bluff,” he said, “and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Knowing that there is much more left in the season, Jackson said he planned to celebrate for the rest of the night, then rehab the next day and get back to work Monday.

“It’s something special,” he said. “It’s extraordinary. If the season were to end right now, I’d be a happy man, but unfortunately, I get to keep on playing basketball.”

February 7, 2009 | AP Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Damian Hollis scored 19 points and Rob Diggs scored 17 points as George Washington snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 87-62 win over Fordham on Saturday afternoon.

Wynton Witherspoon scored 13 points and Tony Taylor added 10 points for the Colonials (7-13, 1-7 Atlantic 10), who won their first conference game of the season and their first game overall since a Dec. 23 road win over Sacramento State.

Led by 16 points from Hollis, the Colonials scored a season-high 57 first-half points, shooting 63.9 percent (23-36) from the floor, for a commanding 57-24 halftime lead.

In the only meeting between schools this season, the Colonials led by as many as 41 points in the second half and held the Rams to 32.8 percent (20-61) shooting overall.

Jio Fontan scored a game-high 22 points for the Rams (3-17, 1-7), who dropped their second straight game and have lost 10 of 11 overall. Trey Blue scored 18 points and Mike Moore added 15 points.

Diggs passed the 1,000 point mark for his career for the Colonials, who have defeated the Rams in nine of their last 10 meetings.

#44 Ryan Butler – Richmond Spiders (G/F)

February 5, 2009 by Patrick Gill | A10CollegeHoops

In the days leading up to big home contests players often state that it will be great to have a game of such high magnitude in their own backyard. Most athletes use the old adage as a figure of speech but if Richmond’s Ryan Butler ever decided to utter these words he would mean it with all sincerity.

Butler’s father Jeff, who led Richmond in points and rebounds during both his seasons with the Spiders in the mid 70s, began to immerse Ryan in the Spider culture at a young age. The Robins Center, where Richmond plays its’ home games, is a minute walk from the Butler household and the 6’7 wing has been hoisting jump shots inside its’ confines ever since he can remember. Recalling his days as a young gym rat the redshirt junior states, “My dad played here and he knew all the coaches. We went to all the games and camps starting when I was 8 and I came to the gym to shoot when I could.”

In spite of his outstanding high school career playing for the team he grew up rooting for did not seem like a possibility upon his high school graduation. Then Spiders coach Jerry Wainwright did not recruit Butler and he was set on spending a prep year at basketball factory Blair Academy when an unforeseeable change in circumstances conspired. Wainwright left to coach at DePaul resulting in current Spiders Head Coach Chris Mooney getting the job. Mooney had recruited Butler while at Air Force and was still interested upon arriving in Richmond. The unlikely combination of Butler not having committed to another school and open scholarships resulted in an offer from Mooney. Butler jumped at the chance and officially became a Spider in late June.

As a redshirt junior Butler is averaging 4.5 points and 2 rebounds while averaging 16 minutes a game of the bench for the Spiders. He is shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from beyond the arc, sports nearly a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio and has 22 steals. However, Coach Mooney states Butler’s importance to the team goes far beyond numbers. “He has a really good sense of the game…He’s versatile, a very good passer and a great defender.”

In accordance with most players that come off the bench, Butler is always searching for consistency. He has also battled a nagging back injury throughout the season. Recently, he has seen increased playing time and has responded by notching double figures twice in his last five contests. Butler believes his offensive success directly correlates with his performance in other aspects of the game, “getting a stop or rebound seems to get me into the game. Offensively the more I move and set screens the more I get open.”

Richmond (3-4 A-10, 11-11) currently sits in the crowded middle of the conference standings. The team lost their leading returning scorer, Dan Geriot, in the preseason and has had its’ share of both impressive performances and disappointments. However, Butler thinks that the team has the ingredients to finish strong and sustain the flashes of brilliance they have shown. “Coach has been saying we need to find a way to win the games we need to win and steal some on the road. One of our goals is to finish with a 10-6 or 9-7 record which would give us a chance at first round bye in the tournament.” As the season winds down and the importance of each game increases the Spiders will look for Butler to continue his recent stretch of strong performances and help the team make his backyard a place where no opponent wants to come and play.

Patrick Gill can be reached at pgill@a10collegehoops.com

Charlie Coley's electrifying dunks were not enough.

February 5, 2009 by Jordan Keyser | A10CollegeHoops

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With their postseason hopes possibly hanging in the balance, The Rhode Island Rams pulled together late and toppled the Charlotte 49ers, 71-64.

The Rams (16-7, 5-3 A-10) came into the game with an RPI ranking of 63: right on the cusp of being a bubble team. Despite trailing early and often, the Rams rallied behind star Jimmy Baron, who scored all of his 19 points in the second half. Despite controlling the tempo for most of the game, Charlotte (7-14, 1-6 A-10) simply could not stop Baron when it mattered the most.

Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron couldn’t agree more.

“Jimmy really did a great job in the 2^nd half of attacking the bucket. He kept moving off screens and really stepped up. I’m really proud.” Coach Baron said of his son’s performance.

49er’s head coach Bobby Lutz sang his praises as well.

“Baron really stepped it up in the 2^nd half. I thought we played him very well defensively, but he hit the big shots. The credit goes to him.”

The 49ers lead by as much as 11 late in the first half, but an 8-0 run by the Rams to close out the half stopped the bleeding.

“After (the 8-0 run) I thought we were in great shape,” said Coach Baron.

The Rams came out of the locker room firing early and silenced the crowd. A rim-rattling, 2-handed tomahawk dunk by Charlotte’s Charlie Coley quickly changed that. Despite adding several other jams that energized the home crowd throughout the second half, the biggest play Coley was involved in was a possible no-call on a dunk attempt with under a minute to go.

“I definitely felt like it was a foul; I definitely felt a push in the back, but that’s how it goes,” said Coley. “(The game) was really physical. A lot of trash talking and scrapping.”

One of Coley’s other electrifying dunks was an alley-oop from Harris that brought the Niners within 1-point, with only 2 minutes left to play. But like all big-time players do, Baron stepped up in crunch time and stole a lazy pass for an easy lay-up, which put the Rams up for good. He added a runner down the lane only seconds later, which proved to be the final dagger.

DiJuan Harris played all 40 minutes and netted his second straight double-double for the 49ers, with 10 points and 10 assists. It was his third double-double of the season.

Coley finished with 13 points and 7 boards in the losing effort, while Lamont Mack contributed 17 points and 7 boards, nearly identically matching his averages for A-10 play (17.8 ppg 7.0 rpg).

Kahiem Seawright’s 14 points and 9 rebounds complimented Baron’s 19 second-half points for the Rams.

URI heads to Philadelphia on Sunday to face Temple and possible A-10 POY candidate Dionte Christmas. Charlotte faces Dayton and Chris “Top Flight” Wright on Sunday at home.

February 5, 2009 | AP Press

CINCINNATI, OH – No one at Xavier has done this since David West was knocking them down.

B.J. Raymond scored 24 points and led a 3-point barrage that swept Xavier to its 11th straight win Thursday night, an 83-74 victory over Temple that kept the ninth-ranked Musketeers perfect atop the Atlantic 10.

Facing a defense that clamped down inside, Xavier (20-2, 8-0) made most of its big shots from far away, following Raymond’s lead. The senior forward went 5-of-7 from behind the arc, and freshman Brad Redford made four 3s as Xavier knocked down 11 in all.

It was Raymond’s fourth straight 20-point game, the best such scoring streak since West was a sophomore eight years ago.

“That’s my specialty — I’m a shooter,” Raymond said.

It’s been more than that. Raymond has taken it upon himself to take shots at big points of the game, even when he’s tightly guarded.

“B.J. Raymond is arguably playing right now as well as any player in the country at his position,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said.

Temple (12-9, 4-3) was looking for a bookend Top 10 upset — the Owls knocked off Tennessee in December — but couldn’t come close as Xavier made sure the conference’s top scorer got few open shots. Dionte Christmas had only 12 points on 6-of-16 shooting.

Christmas leads the conference in scoring for the third straight season, averaging 20.5 points per game. Raymond stuck with him in Xavier’s man-to-man defense, making sure he didn’t get an open shot. Christmas missed his first four attempts — one an air ball — against the tight coverage.

“That was probably one of the best defensive performances I’ve had,” Raymond said. “It helped also that he got in foul trouble.”

Christmas seemed to get frustrated as the game went along. He picked up his third foul for bumping hard into a player he was guarding at midcourt — a poor decision. In his last two games, Christmas is 0-for-9 from behind the arc.

“They didn’t do anything special,” Christmas said. “They just played hard-nosed defense. They had B.J. Raymond on me. He has a large wingspan and is a great defender.”

Someone else would have to come up with a big game to keep Temple in it. Surprisingly, Sergio Olmos was the one to do it.

The 7-foot center didn’t even attempt a shot in Temple’s 74-65 win over Richmond on Saturday. He made hook shots and jumpers while scoring 10 points in the first half, which ended with Xavier ahead 38-34. Olmos and Lavoy Allen scored 18 of Temple’s first 20 points while Xavier chased Christmas around the court.

Xavier is one of the nation’s best at getting the ball inside and drawing fouls, so Temple took away the pass inside, leaving the perimeter open at times. The Musketeers took advantage by going 7-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half, with Raymond hitting four 3s.

In a one-minute span, Raymond and Redford combined on three 3s.

“They created some havoc for us in the first half,” Owls coach Fran Dunphy said. “The versatility — that’s what makes them so strong. We didn’t defend them very well. Their balance is terrific.”

Raymond hit another 3 during a 10-point run that put the Musketeers in control 52-39 with 13 minutes left. Reserve forward Jamel McLean had five rebounds, a putback and a free throw during the spurt.

Olmos and Lavoy couldn’t keep up their first-half pace, and things got grim for the Owls when Christmas picked up his fourth foul with 11:48 to go. Consecutive 3s by Redford pushed the lead to 17 points midway through the half. Temple never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Xavier point guard Terrell Holloway sprained his left foot during an 82-80 win over Massachusetts on Saturday, leaving his availability in doubt. He started and moved well, but was ineffective — finishing with five turnovers and was 0-for-4 from the field.

“Terrell has to play better,” Miller said. “The [foot] is fine. We’re playing in spite of him. He’s got to make better decisions. He can’t throw the ball to the other team.”