Anderson scores 19 and No. 25 Richmond keeps Fordham winless in A-10 with 84-56 victory

Anderson’s 19 lead Richmond past Fordham 84-56

RICHMOND, Va. — Kevin Anderson scored 17 of his 19 points in a runaway first half and No. 25 Richmond kept Fordham winless in the Atlantic 10, 84-56 on Wednesday night.

The Spiders (21-6, 10-2) led 50-28 at halftime and ended any hopes the Rams had of making a game of it with a 15-2 run early in the second half. That gave them a 68-36 lead, their largest of the game, and coach Chris Mooney emptied his bench very early.

Fordham (2-22, 0-12) lost its 17th game in row. Chris Gaston led the Rams with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Brenton Butler scored 17, all but two in the meaningless second half.

Dan Geriot added 14 points, including the 1,000th of his career, David Gonzalvez had 13 and Justin Harper 11, but all of them called it a night long before the final buzzer as the Spiders used an early 18-2 run to open a 16-point lead and coasted the rest of the way.

They finished shooting 53 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers.

With Butler, the Rams’ second-leading scorer, back on the floor after playing just nine minutes and committing three fouls in the first half, Fordham closed to within 53-34 on Butler’s 3-pointer and three free throws early in the second half. But Geriot scored Richmond’s next nine points, all inside, and two Rams turnovers led to breakaway dunks.

In the first half, Anderson scored seven points and Gonzalvez six during the early 18-2 burst, which gave the Spiders a 22-6 lead. They extended the lead to as many as 27 before halftime, and had it to 82-45 after Geriot hit a 3-pointer for his 1,000th point.