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Richmond downs No. 19 VCU in OT

Jan 25, 2013 - 8:00 AM Richmond, VA (Sports Network) - Kendall Anthony scored 26 points and was instrumental in a late second half comeback as the Richmond Spiders upended No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth, 86-74, in overtime on Thursday at Robins Center.

He scored six points in the final 22 seconds of regulation and then nine of the Spiders' (13-7, 3-2 A-10) 17 points in overtime to complete the comeback and hand VCU (16-4, 4-1) its first conference loss.

Darien Brothers followed with 18 points and hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to an extra session. Brothers and Anthony combined for nine of Richmond's 12 makes from beyond the arc for the night.

VCU led 66-60 late in the ball game but saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end when they scored just five points in overtime. Juvonte Reddic led the Rams with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Treveon Graham added 15 points and 10 boards in the defeat.

"I'm sure that was a really exciting game to watch," VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. "Unfortunately that's not the word I would use to describe it for us. It almost was a terrific road win. We just flat out did not finish out the game."

After controlling the contest most of the ball game, the Spiders looked to be finished after a 19-6 VCU surge staked them to a 63-56 lead following Reddic's putback with 43 seconds remaining in regulation.

However, Richmond had one more run in them, which was sparked after Troy Daniels fouled Anthony from beyond the arc. Anthony made all three from the line and then buried a long trey to bring the Spiders within 67-66 with 18 seconds left.

Daniels redeemed himself by making a pair from the line to give VCU a three- point edge, but Brothers struck with a long triple to send the game to overtime.

"They kept denying him (Anthony) so (Lindsay) brought his man to me and flipped it behind and I was open," Brothers said of the shot.

Puzzled by the late collapse, VCU didn't put up much of a fight in the extra session. Graham hit a 3-pointer just over a minute in, but they didn't make another field goal the rest of the way.

Cedrick Lindsay finished a 3-point play before Anthony and Brothers again buried triples for a 82-74 Richmond advantage. Anthony then sank four free throws to put the game away.

The Spiders controlled the pace for most of the first half, jumping out to a 21-14 lead after Alonzo Nelson-Ododa's third bucket of the ball game.

Virginia Commonwealth made just five field goals over the first 15 minutes of action, but stayed within distance as Melvin's Johnson's 3-point play cut the Rams' deficit to 21-19 at the 4:39 mark and they trailed 32-29 going into halftime.

After the Rams took a brief 42-40 lead following a 10-2 push, Richmond responded with a 12-2 run, as they knocked down four triples in a row. Anthony buried consecutive shots before Deion Taylor hit a 3-pointer to cap the push and give the Spiders a 52-44 edge with 11:58 to play.

The Rams rallied with an a 19-6 flurry to take a six-point lead late before collapsing down the stretch.

Game Notes

VCU had won seven of the previous eight contests with the Spiders coming in ... The two schools faced each other as conference opponents for the first time since 2001. Both schools used to be members of the Colonial Athletic Association ... The Rams hold a 41-26 lead in the all-time series ... Richmond has won 11 of its past 12 games at home and is 51-9 in its last 60 games at Robins Center ... The Spiders made 12-of-27 from beyond the arc for the night.