University of Missouri
Richmond
Tigers Fall To Richmond
11/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2009
South Padre Island, Texas - Cold shooting continued to plague the University of Missouri Men's Basketball team at the 2009 South Padre Island Invitational, as the Tigers shot just 32.7 percent and hit just 2-of-11 shots from three-point range in a 59-52 loss to the Richmond Spiders.
Missouri never seemed to find its comfort zone vs. Richmond's match-up zone and early foul trouble to post starters Keith Ramsey and Justin Safford kept the Tigers from gaining much momentum.
Missouri held a 24-21 lead with under 5:20 remaining before the Spiders used a 10-0 run gain a 31-24 advantage. David Gonzalvez scored six of Richmond's points on a pair of three point buckets and really was the only consistent offensive threat for either club in a game that shared three ties and exchanged 12 lead changes.
That 10-point run fueled Richmond's 33-26 half time lead and held up for most of the second period until the final six minutes when the Tigers were finally able to gain a 45-44 margin on a Laurence Bowers jumper. The Spiders quickly regained a 46-45 lead on a pair of Kevin Smith free throws, but Zaire Taylor knotted the game at 46-46 when he split a pair at the line and J.T. Tiller gave Missouri a 48-46 lead with two free throws of his own. However it was once again Gonzalvez saving the day for Richmond as he buried a deep three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Spiders a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
While the final margin was a seven-point differential, it was a two-point game (54-52) with less than seven seconds remaining. Taylor committed an intentional foul on Gonzalvez, who made the shot and his ensuing two free throws to extend the final margin.
Kim English led Missouri with 14 points thanks to 6-of-7 shooting at the foul line, while J.T. Tiller scored 11. English and Bowers were named to the All-Tournament Team. Bowers scored eight points, but also grabbed eight boards in the loss.
"I give Richmond a lot of credit," Tiller said. "They are a good team. We knew that coming down here. They played hard, beat us to loose balls and won the game. We can learn a lot from this game. You don't want to do it in a loss, but that's what we have to do. As Coach Anderson says, we have to get back into the lab and keep getting better."
Missouri hit just 16-of-49 shots on the evening, but remained consistent at the foul line. The Tigers hit 18-of-23 charity shots and out rebounded the Spiders 34-33. However Richmond did an excellent job working through the Missouri pressure and committed just 14 turnovers, the fewest for an MU opponent this season. Consequently Mizzou scored just 10 points off turnovers despite getting 27-of-52 points from their bench.
Missouri continues its trip away from Mizzou Arena this week as the Tigers take on nationally-ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Commodores won a pair of games in Maui last week and will be playing their first contest since that fourth-place finish on the islands.
