Gonzalvez scores 19 to help Richmond defeat Rhode Island 69-67, move into tie for 1st in A10

Richmond defeats Rhode Island 69-67

KINGSTON, R.I. — David Gonzalvez scored 19 points and Richmond defeated Rhode Island 69-67 on Wednesday night.

The Spiders (19-6, 8-2 Atlantic 10 Conference) shot 73.7 percent (14 of 19) in the second half, and used a late 9-1 run to win their fifth straight and move into a tie for first in the A-10 with Charlotte and Xavier.

Richmond trailed 65-60 with 3:03 left, and Gonzalvez’s 3 put the Spiders up 67-66 with 1:22 to play. Kevin Anderson, who finished with 16 points, hit a layup to put Richmond ahead 69-66 with 23 seconds left.

Stevie Mejia then made one of two free throws for the Rams (19-4, 7-3). Rhode Island kept possession after Richmond lost control out of bounds on Mejia’s miss. The Rams inbounded with 4.9 seconds left, but Cothran’s 3 missed the mark with 1 second to go.

Delroy James scored 13 and Cothran 11 for Rhode Island, which snapped a four-game winning streak.