NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Richmond coach Chris Mooney knows that senior forward Justin Harper is a good shooter. Just how good is another question.

``I don't know if he could shoot it that well all the time,' Mooney said of the 6-foot-10 Harper, who nailed 6 of 8 from 3-point range en route to a game-high 24 points, leading the Spiders to their second straight road win, a 69-61 victory over Seton Hall on Sunday.

Advertisement

``I think Seton Hall was playing a lot of zone and that gave Justin a comfort level with the shots he got.'

Harper has been an offensive force of late for the Spiders (10-3), averaging 19 points over the last five games. Harper also had eight rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot as well.

``Justin is an extremely versatile player,' Mooney said. ``He rebounds well and handles it well. He causes a lot of problems with his size.'

The Spiders also have senior guard Kevin Anderson, who is the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Anderson rebounded from a sluggish start to come up big over the last 10 minutes, scoring 10 crucial points, including five in the final minute.

Anderson, who had 14 points overall, sealed the victory with a clutch 3-pointer with a minute left and added a driving basket with 26 seconds left that put the game away.

``Kevin's a great player and he was much better in the second half,' Mooney said. ``At the end of the game, he just took over and sealed the game. It's nice to have a player like that when the pressure's on.'

Jeff Robinson led Seton Hall with 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Jordan Theodore had 15 points and Fuquan Edwin added 12 for the Pirates.

Seton Hall shot just 25 percent (8 of 32) in the second half and scored only two points in the final 5:38.

``The honest truth is that we're just not very good right now,' said Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, who watched his team fall to 6-6 overall and now has a 1-4 record against Atlantic 10 teams.

``This is the first time I've been disappointed after a loss,' Willard added. ``We didn't handle adversity well and let our offense hurt our defense. I was real concerned before this game. But this is where we're at. We're 1-4 against the A-10. I have to wonder what we'll do against Big East teams. It's real disappointing.'

The two teams played a spirited first half, trading the lead six times, before Seton Hall took a five-point lead, 33-28, with 2:41 remaining, when Robinson scored on a running shot off glass.

Seton Hall maintained the lead into halftime, taking a 35-30 lead into the break.

Robinson completed a conventional 3-point play with 18:35 remaining that gave the Pirates their biggest lead at 39-31, but the Spiders came crawling back, scoring the next eight points to tie the game at 39, with four different Richmond players contributing to the run.

The teams exchanged the lead six more times in the final 16 minutes. Anderson nailed three free throws to give Richmond a 50-48 lead with 11:30 left and Harper pushed the lead to four, 53-49, on another 3-pointer with 10:48 left.

But the undaunted Pirates went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead. Theodore started things with a running jumper, then Keon Lawrence's 3-pointer gave the Pirates a 54- 53 lead with 9:56 to go.

Herb Pope scored on a power move down low and Theodore made his second jumper to cap the run, giving the Pirates a 58-53 lead.

Harper continued his brilliant shooting as he nailed another deep 3 to give Richmond a 62-59 lead with 3:45 remaining, capping a 9-1 run. Richmond maintained the lead for the remainder of the game.

After Harper's 3-pointer, Darrius Garrett slammed home a bucket to make it 64-59 with 2:34 left and Anderson's 3 and driving goal sealed the Pirates' fate.

``It's a good win for us, especially on the road,' said Mooney, whose team played for the eighth time in their last nine games away from home. ``I'm real proud of the way we played in the second half. It should help our confidence a lot and use it as a springboard.'

Willard was not as optimistic, as his team lost for the second straight time at home to an A-10 foe, having lost to Dayton on Dec. 22.

``We have to stay consistent throughout the course of the game,' said Willard, who also hinted for the first time that leading scorer Jeremy Hazell might be done for the year because of surgery to repair a broken wrist. ``That's the most frustrating thing. There's a pretty good chance Jeremy won't be coming back. Once we lost him, we lost our way a little bit.'