NEW YORK — Richmond’s 14-game winning streak over Fordham ended at the foul line. The Spiders missed 10 of 19 free throws and fell 69-65 in overtime before 1,106 at Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday night.
The Spiders hadn’t lost to Fordham since the 2007 A-10 tournament. Richmond (3-11, 1-1 A-10) converted 5 of a possible 14 points from the foul line in the final 8:42 of regulation and in OT.
“We can do better than that. We had plenty of games that we were way better than that from the free throw line,” said 6-foot-4 sophomore De’Monte Buckingham, who had 10 points and 16 rebounds. “So we just have to go back, get in the lab, and just prepare, just get back on the free throw line.”
The Spiders entered Wednesday’s game with a 69 percent success rate from the foul line, then shot 47 percent.
Richmond’s last lead in regulation was 38-37 with 15:57 left. Freshman guard Jacob Gilyard hit a driving layup with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie it 60-60. Fordham missed an interior, challenged shot, and follow, just before the horn, leading to overtime.
Junior guard Joseph Chartouny scored 6 of his 26 points in overtime for the Rams (6-8, 1-1 A-10). He also had 12 rebounds and three steals.
Richmond was led by 12 points from junior guard Julius Johnson on four 3-pointers, and freshman forward Nathan Cayo scored a season-high 10.
“I’ve seen a lot of moves that (Cayo) hasn’t done in a game that I’ve seen him do in practice,” Buckingham said of Cayo. “I’m like, ‘Go ahead and do it in a game. I know you can play.’ ”
The Rams (13 steals) gambled by aggressively defending passing lanes. The Spiders played tentatively against that system, and committed 16 turnovers, 10 in the first half.
Fordham, coached by former UR assistant Jeff Neubauer, had only seven scholarship players because of injuries and other factors. The Rams, picked 13th in the A-10 preseason poll, opened their league season with a 76-63 loss at VCU on Saturday.
Under Neubauer in three seasons, Fordham has consistently been among the Division I leaders in steals, primarily because of half-court traps and switching defenses.
“You have to take a little bit of time, and you want to be patient, and also aggressive,” said UR coach Chris Mooney, whose Spiders were outscored 42-24 in the lane. “Those things are difficult sometimes to do. In spurts, we were pretty good. At other times, (Fordham’s defense) stifled us too much, and we didn’t take advantage as much as we could have.”
The Rams were averaging 11 steals and were forcing an average of 16.7 turnovers.
Fordham’s half-court pressure out of an extended 3-2 zone rattled Richmond. The Spiders led 27-23 before enduring a seven-possession stretch during which they turned it over five times. Fordham had nine steals in the first half and gained a 7-point lead with 13:34 left, but Richmond rallied with three consecutive 3-pointers.
Next: The Spiders play their second consecutive A-10 road game Saturday at 8 p.m. (CBS 6.1), when they visit Saint Louis (7-8, 0-2 A-10). Saint Louis, which defeated Virginia Tech 77-71 in New York on Nov. 16, opened A-10 competition with an 83-66 loss at La Salle Saturday.