Richmond pulls away from Charlotte 71-59

RICHMOND, Va. – Justin Harper scored 27 points to lead Richmond to a 71-59 victory over Charlotte in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

Harper hit four 3-pointers for the Spiders (12-4), who entered the game eighth in the country at 41.5 percent from the 3-point line, shot 42.1 percent from beyond the arc (8 of 19).

Richmond also shot 50 percent from the field (12 of 24) to pull away in the second half.

The Spiders used a 14-2 run in the second half to pull away from Charlotte (8-7), which had won four in a row. Cedrick Lindsay scored four points and Harper and Kevin Anderson added 3-pointers as Richmond took a 55-42 lead with 10:18 remaining.

Charlotte cut the deficit to 60-55 with 4:40 left, but Harper countered with another 3-pointer.

Anderson finished with 12 points for Richmond.

Chris Braswell led Charlotte with 18 points and 14 rebounds.