February 21, 2009 by Patrick Gill | A10CollegeHoops

RICHMOND, VA — The Richmond Spiders rode Kevin Anderson’s 15 second half points and stifling defense to a  victory over the Charlotte 49ERS on Saturday night at the Robins Center. Following a mediocre first half Richmond (6-6 A-10, 14-13) dominated Charlotte in the second half to continue their recent surge.

For the first twenty minutes of the contest it seemed Charlotte had solved their season long quandary of playing away from home. Despite their 2-10 mark away from the friendly confines of Halton Arena the 49ERS were clicking on all cylinders going into intermission. Their best player Lamont Mack seemed unstoppable, they were 6-11 from beyond the arc, and possessed a four point advantage.

However, in the second half the road demons that have possessed Charlotte all season returned. The Spiders active match-up zone flustered the 49ers from the outset of the period. Following a Charlie Coley dunk that gave Charlotte a 41-38 lead the 49ers would only score two points the next seven minutes.  “They have good size overall in their zone. They do good job of getting to shooters,” Charlotte head man Bobby Lutz said of the Spiders.

During the pivotal stretch the home team used two Anderson steals, a gravity defying block by Cedric Francis Martel and Ryan Butler’s lockdown defense to stake their claim to a 49-43 advantage with 8:14 remaining. Butler had 4 second half blocks but Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney believed his diving steal with 12:57 remaining was the turning point in the contest. “The play of the game was when Ryan Butler dove on ground at half court and threw it ahead to Kevin Anderson.”

The Spiders would never trail again but needed several big plays by Anderson to repel the resilient 49ERs. With Richmond clinging to a two point lead with 3:34 remaining the sophomore point guard hit a three from the top of the key and then connected on four straight foul shots to put Charlotte out of their misery.

Richmond has responded from a midseason slump by winning 3 of their last 4 games with the only blemish being a close loss at Dayton. Ryan Butler believes the combination of a favorable schedule and a young team hitting their stride bode well for the Spiders as they approach the stretch run. “Hopefully we can win out and get a good seed in the A-10 tournament. We just want to continue to get chances to show teams we can play.”

February 11, 2009 by Patrick Gill | A10CollegeHoops

The Richmond Spiders and Duquesne Dukes came into Wednesday nights’ Atlantic 10 conference match-up as teams headed in opposite directions. The Dukes came in oozing confidence, having won 10 of their last 13 and fresh off a victory over perennial conference powerhouse, Xavier. The Spiders had lost four in a row, six of eight, and were still nursing wounds from a triple overtime defeat at the hands of St. Louis on Sunday.

The combination seemed to provide a perfect storm for the Dukes at the outset of the game. Duquesne jumped on Richmond early, reeling off the games’ first 12 points with relative ease. They dominated all facets of the game, converting turnovers into dunks, half court possession into open three point attempts, and missed shots into put backs. On the other hand, the Spiders early performance might have caused Dr. James Naismith to turn a 360 in his grave. They showed minimal effort on defense, lacked movement on the offensive end, and threw the ball around with reckless abandon. Richmond coach Chris Mooney said of the start, “I think Everybody’s worse nightmare was having a slow start after Sunday’s game and that certainly came true.”

The early onslaught certainly did not hint towards the 71-67 victory the Spiders would gut out in front of a delighted Robins Center crowd. Mooney was able to ride out the eye of the storm by inserting Cedric Francis-Martel, Kevin Hovde, and Justin Harper off the bench. However, the strong play of Duquesne’s Bill Hall tossed Richmond back into the squall, and they still trailed by 15 with 3:29 remaining in the first stanza. Harper, who did not start because of an ankle injury, responded by sparking a 7-0 run that enabled the Spiders to envision a happy destination heading into halftime. “That was huge to get the lead down to eight, psychologically it seems much more manageable,” stated Mooney.

At the start of the second half the home team turned to David Gonzalvez to lead them into safer waters. Richmond’s leading scorer hit a trio of shots from well beyond the arc to erase a lead the Dukes had earned over the games first twenty minutes. Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart said of the comeback, “A lot of that had to with Richmond just coming back and playing well. I thought we did a real good job in every aspect tonight.” After Francis-Martel knotted the game at 40 with 14:53 remaining, the lead switched hands several times. With Duquesne up 54-51 and 9:39 remaining, Ryan Butler (11 points) went on a personal 6-0 run, by hitting back to back 3s, to give the Spiders a lead they would never relinquish.

However, the Spiders had not reached land yet. When the Dukes cut the lead to 61-60 with 2:53 remaining, point guard Kevin Anderson took the wheel and brought the Spiders home. On three straight possessions the Spiders point guard, Kevin Anderson, was able to get into the lane and hit tough pull ups. Anderson’s final bucket, a high arching fade away, put the Spiders up 67-65 with 1:08 remaining. “I just thought he controlled the game late. We had no answer for him,” stated Everhart.

After the teams exchanged turnovers, Francis-Martel blocked a Melquan Bolding three point attempt, allowing the Spiders to regain possession. Anderson was subsequently fouled, and sank two foul shots with 19 seconds remaining to give Richmond a four point advantage. After a Duquense put back cut the Spiders lead back to two with 2.6 seconds remaining, David Gonzalvez broke long on the inbounds play and laid it in at the buzzer to provide the final score.

Anderson finished with 14 points and his backcourt mate Gonzalvez added a game-high 16. Harper (13 points), Butler (11 points) and Jarhon Giddings (11 points) also notched double figures. The Dukes were paced by Damian Saunders and Aaron Jackson who each scored 14 points.

Following losses in several close games in which they played well, the win is something Anderson thinks the Spiders can build on. “A lot of games we have lost when it is close. We took a step forward tonight because we closed the game out.”

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.”

#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