RICHMOND 69, BUTLER 68

Official Basketball Box Score Richmond vs Butler 12/28/04 4 p.m. MST at Olson Court, McKale Center, Tucson, AZ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Richmond 5-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 Bucknor, Jermaine... f 7-9 4-5 2-3 0 8 8 3 20 1 2 0 1 35 51 Steenberge, Kevin... c 7-9 0-0 2-3 2 5 7 4 16 1 1 2 0 30 02 Paterick, T.J....... g 0-2 0-1 0-1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 22 10 Merritt, Daon....... g 1-5 0-2 4-4 0 1 1 2 6 4 3 0 0 20 14 Scott, Jamaal....... g 4-6 1-1 2-2 2 3 5 4 11 5 4 0 1 29 03 Sandoval, Andres.... 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 8 0 2 0 0 23 13 Thomas, Peter....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 15 Moliva, Gaston...... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 25 O'Malley, Patrick... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 17 33 Nelson, Courtney.... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 3 3 0 0 15 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 27-42 5-9 10-14 5 23 28 17 69 17 16 2 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-21 57.1% 2nd Half: 15-21 71.4% Game: 64.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 55.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 71.4% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Butler 5-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 44 BROOKS, Nick........ f 3-5 1-2 2-2 0 1 1 5 9 0 2 0 1 18 35 SMALLIGAN, Jamie.... c 5-11 3-7 7-9 1 2 3 2 20 1 2 0 1 29 03 HORAN, Bruce........ g 1-7 1-7 2-3 2 4 6 2 5 3 0 0 1 37 04 GRAVES, A. J........ g 2-6 2-4 5-6 0 1 1 2 11 4 2 0 0 35 21 SHEETS, Avery....... g 5-10 2-6 0-0 0 2 2 0 12 4 1 0 0 36 20 POLK, Brandon....... 4-4 0-0 3-5 0 0 0 4 11 0 2 0 0 19 32 STREICHER, Drew..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 33 CRONE, Brandon...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 21 42 PATTERSON, Gary..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 20-44 9-27 19-25 4 11 15 18 68 12 10 0 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-22 36.4% 2nd Half: 12-22 54.5% Game: 45.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-17 35.3% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 15-19 78.9% Game: 76.0% 3,2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Terry Christman, Mike Reed, Kevin Brill Technical fouls: Richmond-BUCKNOR, Jermaine. Butler-BROOKS, Nick. Attendance: Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Richmond...................... 28 41 - 69 Butler........................ 26 42 - 68 Semifinal of 2004 Fiesta Bowl Classic presented by Bank One Foul Out: Butler #44 N. Brooks at 5:04, 2nd Half Ejected: Richmond #3 A. Sandoval for flagrant foul at 5:04, 2nd Half --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
Courtney Nelson's layup with three seconds remaining gave the Richmond Spiders a 69-68 victory over the Butler Bulldogs in the opening round of the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, AZ. UR jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Bulldogs responded with a 14-4 run to jump ahead 14-9. Butler remained on top until a conventional three-point play from Kevin Steenberge tied the score at 18. UR pushed their lead to four on two occasions, but back-to-back three-pointers from Jamie Smalligan and Avery Sheets knotted the score at 26-26 with 3:13 left in the half. The score remain unchanged until an Andres Sandoval layup with 0:10 remaining gave the Spiders a 28-26 halftime lead. The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half. The next few minutes were back and forth, as the game experienced several ties and lead changes. A Brandon Polk layup at the 14:51 mark tied the game at 38. Richmond then went on an 8-2 run to take a 46-40 lead with 11:40 to go. A 6-0 Butler run would eventually tie the score at 50-50 with 8:05 left. The game's eighth tie came on a Nick Brooks layup to make it 55-all with just over five minutes remaining. After Brooks' basket, evidently UR's Sandoval took a swing at Brandon Crone on the way back to the other end. Brooks then jumped in and shoved Sandoval. The game was delayed for several minutes while things were sorted out. When the dust finally settled, Sandoval was called for a flagrant foul and ejected, while Brooks was whistled for a technical foul. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that was also Nick's fifth foul. UR led by three at 62-59 and again at 64-61 when a Sheets three-pointer evened the score at 64 with 1:42 left. UR's Daon Merritt was called for a charging foul, and Bruce Horan drew a foul on a three-point attempt at the other end. Horan made two of three to put the Bulldogs up 66-64 with 53.9 seconds to go, but Jermaine Bucknor's three-pointer put the Spiders back on top 67-66 at the 0:38 mark. T. J. Paterick then stole the ball following a timeout, forcing Butler to foul. Paterick missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Bucknor was called for a foul on the rebound. Smalligan calmly sank both free throws to put the Bulldogs up 68-67 with 10.8 on the clock, but Nelson drove the length of the floor, beat his man off the dribble, then snaked around Smalligan for a reverse layup which hung on the rim but finally dropped through with 0:03 left. A three-quarter court heave at the buzzer from Horan missed its mark, and the Spiders came away with a hard-fought 69-68 win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Smalligan. Jamie finished with a game-high 20 points, including 7-of-9 at the free throw line. He also pulled down three rebounds.
Sheets finished with 12 points and four assists. Polk and A. J. Graves added 11 points each. Graves also dished out four assists. Brooks had nine points, while Horan finished with five points and a team-high six rebounds. Richmond was led by Bucknor's 20 points and eight rebounds.
The biggest difference in the game was Butler's defense being largely unable to stop Richmond's offense. UR shot 64% for the game, including 71% in the second half. They outscored the Bulldogs 40-14 in the paint. The Spiders outrebounded Butler 28-15, but a large part of that disparity has to do with UR's shooting percentage leading to fewer defensive rebound opportunities for the Bulldogs. Offensive rebounds were nearly dead even (5-4 UR), as were second chance points (5-2 UR). In a game in which neither team led by more than six, there were 12 ties and 18 lead changes.

The Bulldogs now face Eastern Washington in the consolation game. EWU lost 79-45 to the host Arizona Wildcats, who will face Richmond in the championship. Game time for the Bulldogs is Thursday, December 30, at 6:00 p.m. EST.

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