SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team used an explosive 23-9 second-half run that brought the game within one possession with 2:25 left to play on Wednesday evening, though, the Richmond Spiders (4-4) would manage to hold off the Terriers in front of a raucous crowd at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, 73-64. The Terriers connected on 50 percent of its looks in the second half, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, while Richmond managed to compound timely scores to close the game in their favor and drop Wofford to 5-3 overall.
"Our three losses, it's been kind of the same story where we get dormant in some principles and allow some offense to really affect us defensively," said head coach
Jay McAuley. "But, there's a lot of guys in that room that care a lot and, listen, they want to win more than anybody."
"Sometimes we've got to learn not to get it all back in one shot or one play and I thought we started to do that from around the eight-minute mark to around the three-minute mark. Good teams that we play, like Richmond … we're down two and then they score the last four out of five possessions. You can't do that," added McAuley. "We've got to be most committed to your discipline, principles … something we've got to learn from but I know those guys will respond."
The Spiders led for 33:01 of the contest, hitting 62.2 percent of their shots overall (28-of-45), including an 8-for-18 (44.4%) tally from beyond the arc, led by Richmond's Grant Golden with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting and Jacob Gilyard with 13 points on 3-of-6 from deep.
Junior forward
B.J. Mack led four Terriers in double digits with 15 points on another 6-for-12 showing, along with a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore
Sam Godwin paced the Terriers with 10 first-half points en route to finishing with 14 and five rebounds.
Senior guard
Ryan Larson provided a tremendous spark during Wofford's run in the second half, notching all 12 points in the frame on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, in addition to a team-high three assists.
Junior
Isaiah Bigelow rounds out Wofford's double-figure scorers with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, as sophomore
Max Klesmit and freshman
Austin Patterson chipped in six and five points, respectively.
Richmond closed the first half strong, using balanced scoring inside-out to finish the opening 20 minutes with a 36-26 advantage on 14-of-23 shooting from the field (60.9%) and 55.6 percent from 3-point land.
Godwin paced the Terriers with 10 points on 5-of-7 in the first half, as Wofford used 18 points inside the paint to carry the scoring load behind an unlucky 1-for-9 outing on good looks from deep range (11.1%).
The Spiders carried their momentum into the second half, opening with 15 of the first 24 points in the frame to bust a 48-33 lead at a Terriers timeout by the 15:34 mark.
B.J. Mack scored a finish in the paint to get going, though, the Spiders answered with an immediate three-ball prior to capitalizing on a turnover for its largest lead of the contest at 53-35 with 11:24 remaining.
Layups from Mack and a Klesmit and-one ensued, as Richmond continued to hold a 16-point cushion at 55-39 before Wofford would dig in for the crucial second-half run that would bring the game to two points, 64-62, further engaging the Wofford faithful into a loud, raucous environment at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
"They were awesome," said McAuley of the fan and student engagement during Wofford's second-half comeback. "They helped us, I thought, to start the game. We were really clicking offensively … and then the end of the game, this place was rocking and it's just good to see that. We'll need that moving forward."
During the run, Wofford connected on 8-of-11 shots from the floor, including a perfect 5-for-5 threes – paced by Larson with four clutch consecutive trey makes.
Bigelow would finish a layup in the paint prior to Larson feeding Bigelow for a 3-pointer in front of the Wofford bench (55-44). Larson would then nail an and-one three of his own from
Austin Patterson on the right wing before Patterson would find Larson again to bring the game within single digits, 59-50 (7:11).
The Terriers forced a turnover on the next possession that led to another
B.J. Mack post feed and score, as Larson then drilled his third-straight 3-pointer to send the arena into a frenzy at a Richmond timeout, trailing by just six 61-55. Mack and Richmond's Tyler Burton traded free throws, as Larson them came down to cap his fourth consecutive made 3-pointer on a step-back from the top of the key that brought the game within four, 64-60, with 3:03 remaining.
The senior guard then corralled a timely block on Richmond's Gilyard, setting up a Bigelow fast-break attempt, in which
Morgan Safford corralled an offensive rebound to power through a Richmond defender for a strong finish; rattling the Spiders into another timeout at a one-possession game, 64-62 (2:25).
A pair of scores from Golden reclaimed a six-point cushion (68-62), as Klesmit free throws climbed back (68-64) prior to a crucial converted and-one by Richmond's Burton bringing the margin to seven, 71-64, with 0:43 on the clock. From there, the Terriers found a few unsuccessful looks from Mack, Bigelow and Safford to make a last-chance run, though, the Spiders would finish the game at the line to finish with the 73-64 final margin at the end of regulation.
Wofford finished the contest 45.6 percent from the field (26-of-57) and hit 6-of-19 shots from byeond the arc (31.6%).
Richmond held the rebound advantage for the contest, 26-23, though, the Terriers managed to use seven offensive boards throughout the contest for 14 second-chance points in return. The Spiders' bench also provided a lift contributing throughout the game, tallying 17 points to Wofford's reserves' seven.
Wofford (5-3) is back in action this Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, hosting Kennesaw State for the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week in a 2 p.m. tip on ESPN+.
