RICHMOND, Va. - In a game of decisive runs, the Richmond Spiders came up with just enough to have the final say and hold off a VMI rally in defeating the Keydets, 71-69, before a crowd of 4,069 at the Robins Center Sunday night.

Leading 71-69 with 6.8 seconds left, Richmond forward Dan Geroit stepped to the free throw line to try to put his team up by two possessions, but missed two straight free throws to give the Keydets a final possession in regulation.

VMI senior forward Reggie Williams dribbled inside the 3-point arc with the finals seconds winding down appearing to launch a game-deciding shot, but with defenders closing in, elected to drop off a pass to freshman guard Austin Kenon, who after securing the deflected pass from Williams, launched a desperation contested 3-pointer from the left wing that was well off the mark as the buzzer sounded, preserving the Richmond win.

It was a disappointing ending to a frustrating evening for Williams, the nation's fourth leading scorer and Richmond area native who labored through a 3 for 14 shooting performance and saw his 36-game double figures scoring streak in jeopardy until a 3-point play with 7.7 seconds left pushed his scoring night to 10 points.

VMI (6-6) saw its three-game win streak snapped while the Spiders evened their mark at 6-6 and ended a two-game series skid to the Keydets.

VMI junior guard Chavis Holmes led the Keydets in scoring with 19 points and junior forward Willie Bell added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Keydets, who were bidding for their first four-game win streak since early 2005-06.

All ten Richmond players who saw action scored. Guard Kevin Anderson scored 12 points and sophomore guard David Gonzalvez added 11 points while sophomore post man Dan Geriot added 10 points for UR, which won its second straight.

The Keydets showed no effect of a 10-day layoff at the outset and drained 10 of their first 14 shots from the floor, led by Kenon who was five of six beyond the arc in the opening frame.

VMI led by as much as 14 points, 25-11 at the 9:13 mark when Kenon rammed home a trey from the right corner, but the Keydets would be outscored 19-8 over the last 8:43 before intermission as VMI managed only a Kenon 3-pointer and a Chavis Holmes layup before halftime. Richmond used a 12-0 run and took advantage of seven VMI tunovers and two-of-six shooting over the last five minutes to spark the comeback, pulling within 31-30 on an Anderson bucket with :48 seconds left in the half.

The Spiders took their first lead of the game at the 16:56 mark of the second half on a Ryan Butler 3-pointer from the left corner to give Richmond a 37-36 lead, an advantage that would grow to as much as 11 points as late as 6:52 when Gonzalvez nailed a three-pointer from out front to put Richmond up, 63-52.

The Keydets mounted a furious rallied and answered with a 13 straight points run to surge ahead, 65-63, on a Chavis Holmes layup at the 3:50 mark. Anderson ended the Spider drought with a jumper to knot the game at 65-65 at 2:53, but Williams pushed the Keydets ahead with a free throw with 2:53 remaining.

The Williams bucket would mark VMI's last lead of the night as the Keydets could not capitalize on two defensive stops on Richmond's next two trips down the floor, missing a jumper and committing a turnover during the crucial stretch. A Geriot jumper put the Spiders on top for good, 67-66, with 1:08 left, but the game was not decided until VMI's unsuccessful final trip down the floor at the end of regulation.

Kenon who had seven 3-pointers in VMI's 83-72 win at William & Mary December 20, managed just one triple in the second half after draining five in the first half.

The Spiders, who held a 34-23 advantage on the boards including 10 offensive rebounds which helped lead to a 34-18 scoring count in the paint, have now had nine of their 12 games this season decided by six points or less.

VMI fell for only the second time in seven games when leading at the half.

VMI wraps up the three-game road swing at Mercer University in Macon, Ga, Wednesday night. Tip-off will be 7:00 p.m. Richmond will entertain Virginia Tech at the Robins Center at 6:00 p.m.

VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom - "The guys played hard. They gave everything. We weren't as intense as we needed to be ten minutes into the second half, but other than that, I was really pleased with the effort. On the last possession we had a play called and planned to have a three. Seven seconds to get it to the rim, almost twice, and we chose not to do that and had it deflected and deferred to somebody. It was frustrating, but I was pleased with the effort. It was encouraging to see the guys play like that with Reggie having an off-night. Late in the first half, we had one guy dribbling and four guys standing. Prior to that, we had a lot of good movement. Cutters really give a match-up zone a lot of problems. We were able to do that and build a 14-point lead. Plus we were making shots. Then we missed two shots and couldn't get in our press, we can't give them any pressure and they were making shots - getting easy two's against our zone. Credit them, they were good defensively in the second half - much better than in the first half. We just didn't make plays. At the eight minute mark of the second half, our energy was better, out effort was better, and we came up with steals and turnovers and came up with a 10-second count. We did some good things but I told out team they had better learn from this and you can't take 10 minutes off when you go down to Mercer or it will be a long 10-hour ride down. Hopefully we will learn from it."