Junior Darien Brothers finished with a game-high of 31 points, even as Richmond fell, 80-72, to La Salle in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Tuesday at the Explorers' Tom Gola Arena.
Brothers buried 10-of-16 shots from the field and ended the evening 7-for-7 at the line to surpass the 30-point plateau for the second-consecutive contest. Sophomore Cedrick Lindsay also had a solid night at the stripe, sinking all nine of his free throws to join Brothers in double figures with 17 points.
Sophomore Derrick Williams finished with 14 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds for his fifth-career double-double, while senior and A-10 All-Defensive Team selection Darrius Garrett also made his presence known on the defensive end with three blocks.
Richmond (16-16, 7-9 A-10) shot 24-for-56 (42.9%) from the floor and was nearly perfect with its 19-for-20 (95%) night at the line. The Spiders brought down 31 boards with their nine offensive boards keying the team's 15 second-chance points. Richmond was also efficient in terms of its forced turnovers, scoring 16 points off the Explorers' 11 giveaways in the game.
La Salle (21-11, 9-7 A-10) went 26-for-52 (50%) and 8-for-17 (47.1%) from long range. Junior Ramon Galloway paced four Explorer players in double figures with 17 points and eight assists. Senior Earl Pettis poured in 15 points, and freshman Jerrell Wright sank all six of his shots from the field to add 14 points.
