KJ Simpson scored 23 points and No. 18 Colorado knocked off Richmond 64-59 to advance to the championship game of the Beach Bracket in the Sunshine Slam at Daytona Beach, Fla.
Tristan da Silva added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Buffaloes (4-0), who will face Florida State in Tuesday’s title game.
Jordan King recorded 23 points and seven rebounds for the Spiders (2-2). Dji Bailey added 11 points for Richmond, which will meet UNLV in the consolation game.
Bailey’s layup pulled Richmond within 56-53 with 2:36 remaining before Colorado scored six consecutive points.
The Buffaloes’ da Silva scored on a layup and Simpson hit two three throws to make it a seven-point advantage with 1:03 remaining. Then da Silva added two free throws with 32.3 seconds to make it 62-53, and the Buffaloes closed it out.
J’Vonne Hadley had four steals for Colorado, which shot 42.6 percent from the field, including 3 of 10 from 3-point range.
The Spiders made 45.1 percent of their attempts and were just 5 of 20 from behind the arc.
Mikkel Tyne hit a 3-pointer to pull Richmond within 36-34 just over five minutes into the second half before da Silva made back-to-back baskets to give Colorado a six-point advantage with 12:45 left.
King answered with consecutive baskets and Neal Quinn and Bailey followed with baskets as the Spiders took a 42-40 lead with 10:50 to go.
A short time later, Simpson drained a 3-pointer to put the Buffaloes back in front, and Cody Williams followed with a layup to make it 48-44 with 7:56 left.
Colorado later led 56-51 after two free throws by Hadley with 3:14 to play.
Simpson scored seven points to help Colorado hold a 28-25 halftime edge. King had 12 in the half for the Spiders.
The contest was tied at 13 before the Buffaloes used a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead. A layup by Eddie Lampkin Jr. capped the spurt with 6:27 left in the half.
Quinn got the roll on a short shot as time expired in the half to leave Richmond down by three.
–Field Level Media