This was not the homecoming Richmond forward Derrick Williams imagined.
Williams, a Harlem native, set in motion a bizarre finish featuring eight free throws and an ejection in the final five seconds of Charlotte’s 68-63 win over Richmond yesterday in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Barclays Center.
“Yeah, I would say that’s the craziest end to a game I have ever seen,” Charlotte coach Alan Major said. “You couldn’t make that up if you wanted to make a movie out of that one.”
Charlotte guard Pierria Henry was shooting free throws with 4.7 seconds left to play trailing by three points. After Henry, who led all scorers with 28 points, hit his first free throw, Williams aggressively threw Charlotte forward Willie Clayton to the floor and was called for a technical foul.
Henry converted the resulting free throws to give Charlotte (21-10) the lead and Richmond (18-14) came totally unraveled. Following a shooting foul by Henry, Richmond coach Chris Mooney was whistled for two technicals of his own and ejected.
“I was disappointed in how the game turned out,” Mooney said. “I certainly wish the ending hadn’t been the way it was. I apologize to the Richmond fans.”
Henry once again took the shots from the charity stripe, hitting four of six free throws to give Charlotte the 68-63 win.
“I was trying to focus on my free throws,” Henry said. “Coach Major called me to shoot them with all of the riff-raff going on and I knocked down the free throws. [It felt like I was on the line] for 30 minutes.”
The ninth-seeded 49ers will play top-seeded St. Louis today.
Saint Joseph’s 58, Xavier 57
Hawks guard Langston Galloway hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining and Isaiah Philmore missed the would-be game winner as St. Joseph’s (18-12) beat Xavier (17-14) to advance to play VCU in the second round.
A full-court pass hit off the backboard and into the hands of Philmore, who missed an open look that hit off the back rim just before time expired.
St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli called the miss “an act of God.”
Butler 73, Dayton 67
Rotnei Clarke scored a game-high 21 points as Butler (25-7) eliminated the Flyers (17-14) and advanced to play La Salle in today’s second round.
UMass 77, George Washington 72
Chaz Williams scored 16 points as UMass (20-10) topped George Washington (13-17) and advanced to face Temple.
“We came out a little passive at first,” Clarke said. “We weren’t aggressive enough, weren’t playing hard enough, but then we got in the flow a little bit and shots started falling.”
Clarke shot 7-of-14 from the field, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
“I give credit to my teammates and coach drew up good plays,” Clarke said. “They set great screens for me, they look for me when I’m open. It’s a really unselfish team.”