SPORTS
Men’s Basketball Wins Thriller and 13th Straight, Michael Jones Was on Fire
Michael Jones shot lights out at Richmond on Friday night. This photo from the UMass game shows how they kept him from getting an open 3.
RICHMOND, Va. – Michael Jones scored a career-high 29 points and drilled his eighth trey of the game from 27 feet with three seconds to play, lifting Davidson to its 13th straight win, an 87-84 victory over Richmond Friday evening inside the Robins Center.
In addition to their best start since the 1969-70 season, the Wildcats have the nation’s longest winning streak, improving to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in league play.
A redshirt junior from Woodbury, Minn., Jones finished 9-of-12 from the floor, including an 8-of-9 effort from deep to lead four ‘Cats in double figures.
With the score knotted at 84-all and the clock ticking under 10 seconds, Jones took a pass from Hyunjung Lee near the top of the key and fired his go-ahead shot from deep right. It was all net. Richmond quickly tried to counter, but Jacob Gilyard’s 3-point attempt missed the mark at the horn.
Jones was joined in double figures by Lee (19), Foster Loyer (16) and Luka Brajkovic (13), who also pulled down 11 boards for his second straight double-double.
Behind nine first-half 3-pointers, including a perfect 6-for-6 effort from Jones, Davidson carried a 47-39 into the half.
After the Wildcats started 7-of-8 from the floor and raced to a 16-2 lead, the Spiders responded with 13 straight and cut the deficit to one on separate occasions. Highlighted by three straight Jones triples, Davidson closed the first 20 minutes on a 12-5 spurt.
The Wildcats, who torched the nets for 66.7 percent in the first half, finished the game at 53.6 percent, which included a 13-of-27 showing from behind the 3-point line.
Richmond opened the second half on a 16-4 run to grab its first lead, which it eventually stretched to 60-54 midway through the period. Davidson slowly chipped away at its largest deficit and retook the lead 68-67 on a Lee 3-pointer with 8:19 to play.
After a pair of Loyer free throws gave the Wildcats an 84-79 advantage with 43 seconds remaining, Richmond followed with a Tyler Burton trey and steal leading to a Nathan Cayo tip-in to tie the score with 11 ticks left.
Gilyard and Nick Sherod led the way for the Spiders with 28 and 20 points, respectively.