RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Daon Merritt scored a career-high 21 points, including six free throws in the last 2½ minutes, and Richmond held on to beat South Florida 78-72 Wednesday night after blowing most of a 20-point lead in the final seven minutes.
The Spiders (3-1) led 69-49 after Gaston Moliva's dunk with 6:56 remaining, then went more than six minutes without a field goal as the Bulls pulled to within 69-62 with 2:35 to play. Jermaine Bucknor's layup with 53 seconds left broke Richmond's dry spell.
The Bulls (4-1) got no closer than six thereafter. They were led by Brian Swift with 19 points and Terrence Leather with 17, 15 in the second half.
Bucknor had career highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Patrick O'Malley scored 11.
