This was not the homecoming Richmond forward Derrick Williams imagined.
Williams, a Harlem native, was whistled for a technical foul as Charlotte guard Pierria Henry took free throws with 4.7 seconds left to play, a costly error that would prove to be the difference in the Spiders’ 68-63 loss to the 49ers in the first round of the Atlantic-10 tournament at Barclays Center on Thursday afternoon.
“Yeah, I would [say that’s the craziest end to a game I have ever seen,” Charlotte head coach Alan Major said. “You couldn’t make that up if you wanted to make a movie out of that one.”
After Henry, who led all scorers with 24 points, hit his first free throw, Williams aggressively threw Charlotte forward Willie Clayton to the ground and was called for the technical.
Henry converted the resulting two free throws to give Charlotte (21-10, 8-8) the lead then Richmond totally unraveled. Following another foul on Henry, Richmond head coach Chris Mooney was whistled for two team technicals of his own.
“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.”
After the Richmond (18-14, 8-8) technicals Henry once again took the shots from the charity stripe, hitting four-of-six free throws to give Charlotte the 68-63 win. Henry made eight free throws in the game’s final five seconds.
“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.”
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Richmond appeared on its way to advancing to the tournament’s second round with ease having lead for the majority of the contest, before imploding.
Richmond jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead thanks to hot shooting from beyond the arc. After back-to-back treys from Williams and Darien Brothers as well as three fouls in the game’s opening two minutes, Major was forced to call a time out.
“I felt like we were on our heels to start the game,” Major said. “I wanted us to attack the game a little bit better.”
After Henry converted a three-point play to tie the game at 10 with 14:28 remaining in the first half, Richmond responded with a 9-0 run forcing Major to call a timeout to stop the bleeding once again.
And again, it was Henry who took it right to the Spiders. The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard scored seven straight points for Charlotte to bring the 49ers back into the game.
The second half started out very much like the first, with Williams, a Harlem product, producing the first points and Charlotte playing undisciplined basketball. Once again frustrated by his team’s play on the floor, Major burned a timeout after the 49ers picked up their sixth foul of the half just over four minutes in.
Major’s maneuver, like it did in the first half, worked wonders yet again.
Coming out of the timeout Charlotte scored six straight points to cut Richmond’s lead to just two with 13:56 to play. After a Willie Clayton basket, Richmond’s Chris Mooney called a timeout of his own.
Unfortunately for the Spiders, Mooney’s timeout could not halt the scorching 49ers.
On the ensuing inbounds pass for Richmond, Clayton jumped right into the passing lane, setting up an inside pass to Chris Braswell to bring the game even at 35. Braswell would add tip-in basket moments later to give Charlotte its first lead of the game with 12:31 to play.
A long two from Brothers would bring Charlotte’s run to a halt and the two schools would trade blows until a Terry Allen trey put Richmond back up with 1:24 to play before the chaotic finish.
The ninth-seeded 49ers will play top-seeded St. Louis Friday at noon.
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com