2010 Richmond Spiders Basketball: Richmond vs Rhode Island

It's the 10th of February, 2010. Naturally, teams such as Syracuse, Kansas and Kentucky are headed for the NCAA Tournament. So, too, are Villanova, West Virginia, Duke, and Michigan State. Purdue, BYU, Tennessee, and Kansas State will also be in the field of 65. No surprises there.

But check out another team that's a virtual certainty to make the best single-elimination event in all of American sports. Yes, just 10 days into February, it's a virtual certainty at this point - barring a cataclysmic set of occurrences - that the Richmond Spiders will put on their dancing shoes in the middle of March.

Perhaps you don't want to say - with complete conviction and unwavering confidence - that Richmond punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a titanic two-point triumph on Wednesday night over the Rhode Island Rams. Maybe you're just not willing to go that far. But if there's a team in the Atlantic 10 Conference other than Temple which can feel good about its mid-March travel destination, it's coach Chris Mooney's squad. The Spiders might not have their Dance card firmly in hand, but they're first in line at the Department of Licensing office, about to have their documents and identification papers stamped with a seal of NCAA approval.

Yes, Richmond's in really good shape - let's just put it that way - after stunning the Thomas Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.

The Spiders might have lost a few non-conference games in November and December. It's true that Richmond fell to William & Mary, Virginia Commonwealth, South Carolina and Wake Forest, but all four of those teams either own high RPI ratings or figure to compete for NCAA bids in the coming month. None of those losses are bad ones. If there's a truly nagging result on the Spiders' slate, it's a Jan. 9 loss at Saint Louis.

But then, consider all the good things the Spiders have done so far this season. Mooney's men won three neutral-court games against power conference opponents: Mississippi State, Missouri and Florida. The Spiders wove a web of excellence against Old Dominion as well, and when immersed in the cauldron of A-10 competition, Richmond has only improved. That irritating loss to Saint Louis has been washed away by victories against Temple and now Rhode Island. When Selection Sunday rolls around, Richmond will be able to tout quality wins in and out of conference, plus a solid record against the RPI top 100 and a fat stack of neutral- or road-court wins. In all the metrics that are valued by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee, Richmond grades out favorably. This road win in America's smallest state will go a long way toward ensuring the Spiders a spot in the field of 65.

The hero of this white-knuckle win for Richmond was guard David Gonzalvez. The 6-4 senior from Marietta, Ga., with his team trailing 65-62 just before the two-minute mark of regulation, didn't just decide to take over. He was able to turn the trick.

While URI coach Jim Baron tried to get his defense to react, Gonzalvez found the late-game answers to the questions the Rams posed. Gonzalvez grabbed a defensive rebound with 2:07 left, drew a foul, and hit a pair of foul shots to bring Richmond within one point at 65-64. After the Rams split a pair of free throws with 1:40 left, it was Gonzalvez - not one of his bigger teammates - who grabbed a rebound and promptly banged in a three to give the Spiders a 67-66 edge with 1:22 to go. Rhode Island failed to hit a single field goal in the final 3:03, and when Richmond guard Kevin Anderson produced a layup with 23 seconds remaining - and just three seconds on the shot clock, for what it's worth - the Spiders had the cushion they needed to move up the A-10 pecking order.

Richmond. Likely in the Big Dance. On February 10, 2009. If you thought that the idea of the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl was preposterous, you might want to withhold judgment. Some special Spiders are well positioned to create another remarkable episode in the history of America's most celebrated collegiate sports event.

Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Fans

Richmond vs Rhode Island Basketball Recap