Florida Gators
Richmond
No. 13 Basketball Falls to Richmond, 56-53
Sunday, December 20, 2009 | Men's Basketball
The No. 13 University of Florida men's basketball team (8-2) was defeated by Richmond (8-3), 56-53, on Saturday night at the BankAtlantic Center in the second game of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic. The Spiders rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to hand the Gators their second loss of the season.
Junior forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) led the Gators with 15 points, shooting seven-of-10 from the field. He added five rebounds, one block and one steal. Redshirt junior Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth, Va.) had a team-leading 11 rebounds while contributing three blocks.
Florida had an eight-point lead at the half, heading into the locker room up 32-24, but the Gators shot 7 for 27 in the second half (26 percent), including 1 for 9 from 3-point range. They led for the last time at 49-48.
Richmond guard David Gonzalvez's 3-pointer with 1:34 left put the Spiders ahead 52-49. Kevin Anderson sank both ends of a one-and-one for a 54-53 lead, and after sophomore guard Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made a 3-point, Anderson made two more free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining. Walker was one of three Gators to finish the game with nine points, joining junior forward Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) and senior forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.).
Gonzalvez scored 16 points for the Spiders, who beat a Southeastern Conference team for the second time this season. They defeated Mississippi State on Nov. 27.
The Gators return to action on Tuesday as they host South Alabama at 7 p.m. at the O'Connell Center.
