WASHINGTON (AP) – Jacob Gilyard scored 26 points, Tyler Burton had 16 points and 12 rebounds and No. 6 seed Richmond beat top-seeded Davidson 64-62 on Sunday to clinch the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Championship and an NCAA Tournament automatic berth for the first time in 11 years.
"This is what we came back for," Gilyard said. "You know what I mean? Obviously, it wasn't glitter and rainbows throughout the year, throughout the four years that we were here, five years we were here. But to get to the Big Dance, that was the ultimate goal."
Richmond (23-12) was playing in the A-10 Championship game — needing two 15-point comebacks in the early rounds — for the first time since winning in 2011. The Spiders are making their 10th trip to the NCAAs, the first since making the Sweet 16 in that 2011 season.
With Davidson’s 27-6 record and resume, Richmond’s win likely knocked out a bubble team.
The Spiders lost a home game to Davidson 87-84 on Jan. 14 when Michael Jones hit a game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds remaining. Jones had another chance to win this game, getting an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, but his contested 3-pointer from the corner didn’t hit the rim as time expired.
Richmond went six-plus minutes without a field goal down the stretch until Burton completed three-point plays on back-to-back possessions to get the Spiders within 62-60. Davidson dribbled down the clock and missed a 3-pointer before Burton missed a baseline jumper at the other end, but his airball went off a Davidson player.
After a timeout, Matt Grace powered into the lane and completed another three-point play — his first points of the game — to give Richmond a 63-62 lead with 19.1 seconds left. Foster Loyer had a good look at a 3-pointer at the other end, but it rolled out and Gilyard, an 85.7 percent free throw shooter, was fouled before making 1-of-2 free throws at 2.9 second remaining.
Davidson called a timeout at 2.5 and Richmond called another after seeing how the Wildcats set up. Davidson made a half-court pass and called another timeout with 1.7 left, but Jones’ shot was off.
"To be honest with you, I can't wait to watch the last two minutes of the game," Richmond graduate student Grant Golden said. "I kind of blacked out, out there. I don't really remember a lot of what was going on. Tyler Burton turned into a minister at the end for us. And Matt Grace can do no wrong. Matt Grace can do no wrong. [I said to him] Make this free throw. Make this free throw. That was it."
Gilyard was 9-of-18 from the field, including a long jumper early in the second half to reach 2,000 career points, becoming just the fifth player in program history to do so.
Sam Mennenga scored 18 points and Jones finished with 17 for Davidson. Luka Brajkovic, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"[Richmond] accomplished something that's very difficult to do, winning four games in four days," Davidson head coach Bob McKillop said. "We absorbed a very good punch early in the game. Came back and took control of the game to a degree, as much as you can take control of a game like this. And they made big plays at big times down the stretch and came out on top."
Mennenga made his fourth straight 3-pointer to give Davidson a 49-42 lead with 10:03 remaining, but the Wildcats didn’t make their next field goal until Brajkovic at 4:45. Richmond tied it on three different occasions during Davidson’s field-goal drought but couldn’t take the lead until the closing seconds.
2022 All-Championship Team
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton
Luka Brajkovic, Davidson
Foster Loyer, Davidson
Grant Golden, Richmond
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond (Most Outstanding Player)