36 mins until tip: The Spiders are doing their warm ups and the fans are all over them when they miss a layups/dunks. By the way, how can you miss a dunk in warmups?
30 mins until tip: Its a Black Out in the student section. Most of the paying crowd has yet to filter in. Lets hope they got the memo and wear black.
27 mins until tip: Here come the Rams!
20 mins until tip: Santil has the sickest all yellow Hyperdunks on.
17:53 mins before tip: Joey's warmup shirt has "No Excuses" on the back. Hopefully, he wont need any tonight.
12:00 mins until tip: All the white dudes on U of R tuck in their warmups. The U of R student reporters sitting next to me believe VCU doesn't have team unity based on the simple fact that the Spiders are all wearing the same shoes while the Rams are wearing an assortment of colorful Nikes. This is going to be a long 12 minutes.
11 mins to go until tip: Rams are headed back to the locker room.
8 mins until tip: The Siegel is filling up. The National Anthem was off the hook. The teams should be coming out any moment now.
4 mins until tip: Here come the Spiders. VCU's student section is all over them.
2:20 until tip: Here come the Rams as the crowd roars!
Here come the intros...Dan Geriot is a punk.
Its standing room only and the Seigel is shaking!
20:00 Richmond takes the tip and draws first blood. Larry answers with a quick bucket inside.
17:00 on the clock: 5 All. The U of R guys next to me are proclaiming Dan Geriot as the next Pittsnoggle. Ladies and gentlemen, your Richmond Spiders! I can't make this stuff up if I try. Back to the game. It looks like Gavin is coming off the bench tonight.
15 mins to go in the first half and we are deadlocked at 5. Both teams are playing incredible defense.
12:28 Gonzalves is a one man wreaking crew for the Spiders. The last three UofR offensive positions have gone like this: Gonvalves three, Gonzalves jumper just inside the line and a Gonzalves steal and layup. Timeout VCU. UofR up 14-7.
10 mins to go. UofR 16, VCU 11. Both teams are running up and down the court and playing tremendous perimeter defense.
7:07 Rams down 20-13. Larry is coming back in after a brief rest. With Larry out Richmond was having their way inside.
6:33 The crowd gives a standing O for Santil who enters the game... oh wait that was for Larry has he takes another breather with 2 fouls. On a side note. I get a stat sheet ever 5 minutes. Now if I could just get a beer.
5:21 Rams down 23-15. The Spiders seem like the hungrier team at this point. They are out hustling the Rams to every loose ball and are contesting ever shot. The one bright spot for the Rams is TJ Gwynn. He has 7 of VCU's first 15 and is our only presence in the paint.
4:45 The Rams are throwing a block party. Santil just swatted a Spider layup attempt igniting an unsuccessful break. The Rams have 7 blocks in the first half. Larry has 4 of those.
4:30 The Refs are clamping down on this game after an unassuming altercation between Butler and Gwynn. The Rams have lost the last three offense positions to tick-tack fouls. Rams are down 25-15.
3:13 Bronx cheer for the refs after VCU finally gets a call to go their way. VCU down 27-15.
Random side notes: Joey is a broken ankle waiting to happen. He is wearing a low top Nike Air Force One.
1:40 TJ Gwynn continues to be the one shining star for the rams inside. The rest of the team cant cut through the Spider defense.
1:09 Another bucket for TJ inside this one draws a foul. TJ hits the freebee and cuts the UofR lead to 7. VCU down 27-20.
The Halftime Buzzer sounds and its 29-20 UofR. The Rams head into the locker room down 9 but may have stolen a little of the momentum from the Spiders. TJ Gwynn leads the way for the Rams with 12. David Gonzalvez has 12 at the break to lead the Spiders.
Halftime goodies! All the soda and water I can drink! No bathroom in sight though.
More halftime stats: TJ Gwynn is 5-9 from the floor. The rest of the Rams are a combined 2-15. The Spiders shot 46.4% from the floor and 42.9% from behind the arc. The Rams shot an abysmal 29.2% from the floor and were just 1-10 from behind the arc.
20:00 The Second Half is underway. Richmond ball to start the second.
19:20 Joey start its off for Rams with a baseline layup. Followed by a steal. Dan Geriot cant handle TJ's quickness inside and fouls him on the shot attempt. He sink both free throws and the Rams cut the lead to 29-24.
18:24 David Gonzalvez continues his dominance over the Rams cutting through the lane and drawing a trip to the line. He cans both freethrows and puts the Spiders back up 7.
17:27 its coast to coast action for both teams. The Spiders and Rams unable to convert fast break layups. UofR up 33-26.
16:26 Terrance Santil is playing like a man on fire. He wants the ball inside and is going to the rim strong. He earns a trip to the line and hits both. On the ensuing trip down the floor he gets a block and puts in a layup at the other end. Rams are within 3. 33-30.
15:28 Easy Ed gets a steal and is fouled on the break. The Crowd is alive and the Seigel is shaking. Timeout UofR!
15:28 Santil cans both free throws and VCU comes out in the press. Richmond is clinging to a 1 point lead. This roof is coming off if we get a stop here.
14:25 Another Santil bucket and the foul! VCU takes it's first lead since the opening minutes. 45-33.
14:04 Tech on Mooney! The crowd is going nuts. Joey makes both free throws. Rams ball up 37-33.
13:34 Timeout Richmond. Mooney is trying to slow the Rams momentum and quiet the rockus crowd. VCU up 39-33.
13:25 Santil gets a standing ovation has he takes a breather after picking up his third foul. Lets see if Larry can keep it going inside for the Rams.
12:20 Gonzalvez nails a three on the curl and Dan Geriot adds a fastbreak layup to put UofR back up 40-39. The Spiders are showing tremendous poise right now. VCU clearly has the momentum and the crowd.
Ever wonder if the ref can hear you when you tell them much the enjoyed the previous evening with their mother? They can. Clearly.
10:00 both teams have settled into their half court sets. The Spiders continue to cling to a one point lead 44-43. More importantly they seemed to have weathered the storm. The crowd has quieted.
8:39 The Spiders continue to pound it inside and it seems to be working. There has been a Larry Sanders sighting! The Condor gets low post bucket to cut the Spider lead back to one. 46-45.
8:05 Santil is back in the game. Lets see if he can keep it going.
7:19 The Spiders and Rams trade three pointers. The Spiders are up 51-48.
6:09 Following an Anderson drive and lay up to put Richmond up 5. Larry answers for the Rams to cut the Spider lead back to 3. UofR 53-50.
House of Pain over the PA. Please make it stop. This is killing out momentum.
4:47 Shaka Smart wants to pound it inside with Larry. It pays immediate dividends with a trip to the line. Larry misses the front end of the 1 and 1. The Spiders are still up 53-50.
4:21 Larry misses two more free throws.
3:39 After a Larry Sanders bucket in the paint. David Gonzalvez cuts to through the lane and gets another layup to put the Spider lead to three.
3:22 Rozzell ties the game at 55 with a three from the corner!
2:24 The Spiders have no answer for All American candidate Larry Sanders. He puts the Rams up 57-55.
1:37 Media Timeout. Both teams huddle up and make their last minute adjustments for the stretch run. Larry is on the sideline trying to get the Seigel Crowd going. The fans respond.
1:00 to go. VCU ball. Rozzell nails a three to put the Rams up 5. VCU is caught celebrating and Richmond gets a break away layup. VCU 60-57.
40.8 ticks on the clock. Richmond fouls TJ on the inbounds. Gwynn puts both shots through the net to extend the Ram lead to 62-57.
25.7 David Gonzalvez ari balls a three out of bounds and the Seigel Center crowd can sense victory.
25.2 I hear the clanging of keys as Joey misses the front end of the 1 and 1. Joey hits the second and puts VCU up 63-57.
16.7 Another miss by the Spiders and TJ is fouled again. Its all formalities at this point. TJ hits his 19 and 20th points to put VCU up for good!
ITS OVER!!!! VCU 57, Richmond 65.
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