Former St. Christopher's standout Sherod scored 23 to lead Spiders past VCU

RICHMOND, Va. -- Nick Sherod hit his first four three-pointers in the first half, while Grant Golden added 15 points and 10 rebounds inside to lead the Richmond Spiders to a 77-59 win over crosstown rival VCU.

The game was a stark contrast to the first meeting between these two at the Siegel Center on Jan. 28, in which the Rams won 87-68.

"We're really proud of our guys," Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said after the win in which his team never trailed. "We've worked really hard. This was a big game and I though we rose to the moment."

Spiders junior guard Blake Francis, who missed the first meeting this year with a fractured sternum, scored 13 points and Jacob Gilard added 11. The Spiders outrebounded VCU 22-12 in the first half, building an 18 point halftime lead.

"We didn't get enough stops," said VCU head coach Mike Rhoades. "When a team is very good on the offensive end and shoots 11 3s, it was an emphasis for us in the first game but we didn't do it today."

The Spiders shot 54% from the field in the first half and extended their lead to as many as 23 after halftime. VCU closed the gap to a dozen late in the second half, but could never get the deficit to single digits.

"Anytime you can beat these guys, it feels good," Sherod said. "I wanted this one really bad. It meant a lot."

Rams senior guard Marcus Evans was listed as day-to-day for the game but he never played. Rhoades said Evans just could not push off his injured knee during the morning shootaround.

Richmond (19-6, 9-3 A-10) takes over sole possession of third place in the A-10 standings with the win, and they will host George Mason on Wednesday night. VCU falls to 17-8 overall and 7-5 in conference with a huge showdown with Dayton coming up on Tuesday night at the Siegel Center.