Just a couple of years ago, the VCU Rams and the Richmond Spiders had the attention of the national sportsworld as both were marching through the NCAA Tournament. The Spiders fell just short of the Sweet Sixteen, while the Rams eventually wound up in the Final Four, putting Richmond, VA on the sports map in College Basketball. In the two seasons since, little has changed in terms of the competitiveness of these two teams, who now not only share the same city and same area code, but the same Atlantic – 10 conference.
Thursday night at UR’s Robins Center, the Rams brought the #19 ranking and a 13-game winning streak to the West End for their first official Atlantic-10 game with their cross-town rivals. Richmond is no stranger to big games against ranked opponents with a reume’ full of upsets, and the Spiders pulled off another one with an 82 – 74 victory at home over the Rams ending VCU’s roll and giving them their first loss in the A-10 this season. Kendall Anthony came off the Spiders bench to contribute 22 points to lead UR to the win and improve their record to 13 – 7.
In the CIAA, the Trojans of Virginia State defeated Chowan University 73 – 65 on Wednesday night, while the Panthers of Virginia Union picked up a rare road win this season at Bowie State University. This weekend, the Trojans hit the road for a date with the Vikings of Elizabeth City State on Saturday, while Virginia Union comes home for a clash with Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.
In MEAC action, the first installment of the “Battle Of The Bay” takes place on Saturday night at Joe Echols Arena as Norfolk State University entertains Hampton. The Spartans have won five in a row……
