Associated Press

Richmond's Oumar Sylla (right) tries to stop Virginia's Sean Singletary. Singletary scored 18 points in the UVa win.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In the final 10 minutes of Virginia's 31st men's basketball game of the season, the Cavaliers discovered the value of good defense.

Virginia shut down Richmond down the stretch Tuesday night as the Cavaliers rallied for a 66-64 victory before a crowd of 4,022 that was the smallest in UVa's two seasons in John Paul Jones Arena.

Richmond (16-15) led 61-49 following a Ryan Butler layup with 8:41 remaining but scored only one field goal the rest of the way.

The Cavaliers (16-15) did not have the lead at any stage of the second half until senior point guard Sean Singletary scored in traffic to make it 65-64 with 1:16 left.

"We've come back before, but we haven't done it often enough " said Singletary, who had a team-high 18 points. "We got in the huddle and we were like, 'We've got to get these stops right here.'

"The look on everyone's eyes was, 'We don't want to lose, especially not at home and not in our final game.' "

It was the largest deficit Virginia had overcome in a victory this season and set the Cavaliers up for a second College Basketball Invitational home game Monday night against Old Dominion, which defeated Rider 68-65.

"We're a team that sometimes needs things to be very literal," said UVa coach Dave Leitao, who had feared the unfamiliarity of Richmond's Princeton-style offense. "We kept getting caught and before you know, you're down 10 and everybody in the arena, including myself, thought it was over."

Richmond hit 22 of its first 43 shots from the field against a Virginia team that was 0-9 when its opponents had shot 50 percent or more, but the Spiders connected on only one of their last 11 attempts.

There was no special wizardry that accounted for UVa's defensive turnaround.

"If I had that answer, I'd probably be living with John Woodden right now, 'X' and 'O-ing' with him," said Leitao, referring to UCLA's venerable ex-coach, known as the Wizard of Westwood.

The Cavaliers opened the game with a 7-0 run and had a chance to add to their lead before committing back-to-back turnovers, which served as an omen for the rest of the game.

Virginia aided the Spiders by committing 10 first-half turnovers and 11 personal fouls, two by Singletary, whose exit with 4:30 remaining coincided with a 9-0 Richmond burst.

The Spiders capitalized by making nine of 10 free throws in taking a 33-31 halftime lead, but the Cavaliers committed only three personals in the second.

Indeed, UR coach Chris Mooney felt the Spiders let the Cavaliers get back into the game by sending them to the line. Virginia's comeback started when Dan Geriot was called for an intentional foul, sending Singletary to the line with 7:57 left.

Singletary made only one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 61-52, but the Cavaliers retained possession and Mamadi Diane converted a three-point play to make it a six-point game.

Diane played 33 minutes off the bench and finished with 15 points, his fifth straight game in double figures.

"Going back half a dozen games or so, we had a little tete-a-tete," Leitao said. "I had some choice words for him and he gave it right back to me."

Said Diane: "Yeah, I do remember what Coach [Leitao] was talking about. It was something specific and we got really emotional. That's what he likes, but it's not really in character for me."

Diane's increased playing time has come at the expense of senior Adrian Joseph, who continues to start but played only 14 minutes. Joseph, benched for a defensive lapse early in the second half, did not re-enter the game until 7:57 remained but hit a 3-pointer that cut Richmond's lead to 64-63 with 3:04 left.

After that, Joseph had a turnover, missed a dunk and made only one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds left, although he did corral the rebound after the Spiders' Kevin Smith missed on a drive through traffic.

"On the one hand, this is the time of year when you just win and move on," Leitao said, "[but] what I saw for the better part of the game was listlessness more than anything else."