The Salukis men’s basketball squad made its way to Richmond, Virginia on Saturday Dec. 13 to take on the Richmond Spiders in their last non-conference game of the season. The Salukis came away with their second overtime loss of the year, dropping this one 93-84 to the Spiders.

The Salukis and the Spiders were in an absolute rock fight for the first few minutes. The two teams combined for six turnovers and Saluki forward Rolyns Aligbe hit the game’s only 3-point attempt. That 3-pointer helped SIU to a 7-6 lead through the first four minutes.

Richmond was able to ride a 10-0 run to an early lead from there. The Spiders ended up with a 17-11 lead in what became an increasingly messy first nine minutes of the matchup.

The Spiders were able to keep the Salukis at bay throughout the middle portions of the half. They extended their lead to as much as 7 points, but by the time there was eight minutes left in the half, SIU had brought it back to four with the score 22-18.

The visitors finally answered back in the latter part of the first half. A straightway three from guard Damien Mayo Jr capped a 6-0 run and made the score 29-28 with 2:54 left before halftime.

Both teams held the lead at different points over the last two minutes of the half, but a corner jumper from guard Isaiah Stafford with three seconds to go gave the Salukis a 36-32 lead heading into the locker room. The 4-point lead was their largest of the half. Mayo led the Salukis in points through the first 20 minutes with nine.

The Salukis proved their hot end to the first half was no fluke, keeping the momentum coming out of the half. A fast break layup from guard Drew Steffe gave SIU a 50-41 lead with 15:32 left in the game, the largest lead for either team to that point.

All of a sudden, the Spiders started feeding off the hometown crowd in a way they had yet to do. They launched a 10-0 run to retake the lead that gave Richmond the lead back 51-50 with 11:50 left. 

They continued their run throughout the middle portion of the second half. It got up to a 16-0 run after a goaltending call on Aligbe. The call stood despite a challenge from head coach Scott Nagy. The failed challenge left the Salukis with only one timeout for the last 9:54 of the game, down 57-50.

The Salukis were able to use that review time as a way to reset themselves to the team that started the half. They cut the lead back to only 2 points, trailing 61-59 with 6:28 left in regulation.

That’s about as close as the Salukis could get for the time being. The Spiders kept SIU at bay, and held a 69-64 lead coming out of the final media timeout of the game.

The Salukis started knocking on the door yet again, with Aligbe making a putback to bring SIU within one yet again with the score 72-71 with 35 seconds to go.

SIU finally tied the ballgame with 13.8 seconds to go after guard Quel’Ron House got fouled after making a basket and made the ensuing free throw to tie it 74-74. The shot at the buzzer from Richmond guard Will Johnston rimmed out, sending the Salukis to their second overtime game of the season.

Neither team could gain a true advantage throughout the early stages of overtime. Two free throws from Richmond guard Aiden Argabright gave the Spiders an 80-76 lead with 2:58 to go, the largest lead for either team in the extra period. 

The Spiders then went on a quick 5-0 run to seemingly put the game out of reach, making the score 87-79 with 1:28 to go. A combination of Richmond free throws and harmless Saluki baskets brought the final score to 93-84 in favor of the Spiders.

Rolyns Aligbe tallied the Salukis’ first double-double of the season in the loss, scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. House (17), Mayo (12), and guard Jalen Haynes (12) joined Aligbe in scoring double-digit points.

The now 6-5 Salukis will turn their attention to conference play. They open conference play at home on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. when they take on the Illinois State Redbirds at Banterra.

Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram @hoovermakesart

Advertisement