FAYETTEVILLE — Under the bright lights of Capel Arena, the Richmond Raider basketball team stayed cool under pressure to earn its first win of the season on Friday.
After a disappointing first-half postponement at Myers Park High School earlier in the week, the Raiders and head coach Donald Pettigrew didn’t disappoint against Fayetteville Academy.
Competing in the opening night of the sixth annual Hoops and Dreams Showcase at Fayetteville State University, Richmond overcame a pair of double-digit deficits to win 74-68.
Trailing by as many as 13 points, and down 11 points early in the second half, the Raiders used a dominant performance from senior wing Paul McNeil Jr.
He registered his first double-double of the season with 37 points (15-of-24 shooting) with 15 rebounds. McNeil Jr. added five blocks and four steals, and had 14 points in a decisive fourth quarter.
Fellow senior shooting guard Jamarion Wall chipped in 13 points in the victory, including 10 points in a second quarter that started the momentum turn for the Raiders.
Senior point guard Javian Drake helped ice the win with 12 points, which featured 8-of-10 from the free throw line (4-for-4 in the fourth) in the second half. As a team, the Raiders shot 18-of-21 from the charity stripe.
A slow first quarter saw the Raiders trail by 13 points. Sloppy play, turnovers and foul trouble by several players resulted in a 19-8 deficit for Richmond at the end of the opening eight minutes.
Play was stopped for a few minutes with 5:04 on the clock after the shot clock collapsed following a dunk attempt by senior Braylon Barfield.
McNeil Jr. dropped all eight of Richmond’s points in the frame. He started with a three-pointer from the left corner to tie it 3-3 early on. He followed that with a trio of free throws and a jumper from the elbow at the buzzer.
The Raiders kept their composure in the second quarter, using 10 points from Wall to start a 14-3 scoring run.
Junior guard Keyonta Davis splashed down a three-pointer along the left wing, which ignited 12-straight points for Richmond.
The stretch spanned just over three minutes and featured putbacks from McNeil Jr. and Drake, along with five straight points from Wall. He notched a pair of free throws and added a triple from the left side.
That cut Richmond’s hole to 21-20 with 4:02 left in the half. Two more points from McNeil Jr. was followed by a Wall drive through the paint. On the next possession, Wall rattled in a three-ball from the right corner to give Richmond its first lead, 27-26, with 2:04 to go.
The Eagles (3-1) closed the half on a 8-2 stretch to take a 34-29 lead into the break. McNeil Jr. drove the baseline for the final points for the Raiders.
Fayetteville Academy opened the third quarter with six consecutive points and put the Raiders down by 11 points.
Stopping the run was a shot under the basket by junior forward Davion Ingram, the first of his four points in the quarter, which fueled a 14-0 Raider run.
Netting all of those points in 1:38 on the clock, Richmond applied the press on defense to force several turnovers on inbound plays and near midcourt. McNeil Jr. had the next three points on an old-fashioned three-point play.
Junior guard Ahaiver McDonald finished a bucket and a foul following a Richmond steal, Drake rang true on two free throws and Wall banked in a steal off an inbound to regain the lead.
The Eagles called a timeout, but out of the break, Ingram made a transition layup to give Richmond a 43-40 advantage with 3:40 to go in the third.
Getting Fayetteville Academy back on the board was Jossiah Johnson with a pair of free throws. After two more free throws from Drake maintained a 45-42 lead, the Eagles scored four points to retake the lead.
That started a back-and-forth during the final 2:35 of the third that featured four lead changes and three ties. Six points from McNeil Jr., a Wall free throw and a Drake layup on a long outlet pass from McNeil Jr. made it 54-50 heading into the final stanza.
Two quick points from McNeil Jr. opened it to a six-point lead, the largest at any point in the game for Richmond, but the Eagles rallied back to take a one-point lead 57-56.
McNeil Jr. drove the paint in response, giving the Raiders the lead again. Despite several timeouts called by Fayetteville Academy, the Eagles never recovered.
Down the stretch Drake broke a 64-64 tie with his final two free throws. McNeil Jr. had six of Richmond’s final eight points in the closing 1:10, with McDonald adding an insurance bucket.
Leading scorers for the Eagles were Xavier Johnson (15 points), Jadyn Cooper (12 points), Aziz Al-Jurhanni (12 points) and Johnson (10 points).
The Raiders (1-0) are set to play Millbrook High School on Saturday during the second day of the tournament. What will be the Wildcats’ season opener, the game will start at 6 p.m. at Fayetteville State University.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Friday’s win over Fayetteville Academy soon.
