Richmond 64, Rhode Island 61
Darien Brothers scored 15 points Wednesday, and Richmond opened Atlantic 10 Conference play with an 64-61 victory over Rhode Island at the Robins Center in Richmond, Va.
Greg Robbins and Deion Taylor each added 11 for the Spiders, who saw an 18-point lead nearly evaporate down the stretch. The visiting Rams (5-9, 0-1 Atlantic 10) cut the margin to three with two seconds to play, but after Taylor missed two free throws, Rhode Island couldn't come up with the rebound as time expired.
Xavier Munford scored 25 points for the Rams, who shot just 38.6 percent from the field.
Richmond (11-5, 1-0) again went with a smaller lineup, as junior forward Derrick Williams missed his second consecutive game with a sprained left ankle.
Brothers, who entered the night as the leading 3-point shooter in the country at 55 percent, made just one of four attempts from long range Wednesday. As a team, the Spiders went 4-for-18 from beyond the arc. Brothers went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line, but the rest of the team made just 10 of 22 foul shots.
Richmond led 38-28 at halftime.
The Spiders improved to 9-1 at home this season.
