The Richmond Red Devils renewed their rivalry with Northeastern in a game played at Larry Moore Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 22.
The two teams last played during the 2014-15 season at the Tiernan Center. During the last 20 years the schools have met five times with all the meetings in the Tiernan Center. First-year Richmond head coach Josh Jurgens bucked the trend and brought the Red Devils to Fountain City.
“Every game is a learning experience with this group,” Jurgens said. “We play juniors and seniors but they did not have a lot of varsity experience coming into the season. We are looking to improve and win games.”
The game was closely contested from the opening tip. There were six ties and eight lead changes in the first three quarters with Richmond clinging to a 48-47 lead entering the fourth period.
Eli Hubbard scored inside, with six minutes to play, to push the Richmond lead to six points at 53-47 before a Lucas Durbin basket cut the lead to 53-49.
But the Knights could never get closer. Richmond’s defensive quickness began to take its toll and speed the game up. The Knights’ shots stopped connecting, and the Devils eventually pulled away to take a 64-58 win.
Northeastern head coach Brent Ross said his team is improving. “The atmosphere tonight was great,” Ross said. “Late in the game our shots stopped falling and we let the game get away from us, but both teams are trying to learn how to win and playing in games like this will help. We played well for most of the game. We just need to learn to finish.”
“Playing this game in a packed gym, where the fans are right on the floor, in a tournament atmosphere, was good for our kids,” Jurgens said. “Northeastern played well. Coach Ross and I have coached against each other for years and his teams are always well prepared.”
Both teams placed three players in double figures. Eli Hubbard led the Red Devils with a game high of 19 points, Jeravion Johnson-Phillips scored 13 points and Dominick McKinley-Bigalk scored 12. Logan Seal led the Knights with 14 points, Kaleb Moore scored 13 points and Luke Durbin added 10 points.
Richmond (5-12) 21 11 16 16 64
Northeastern (5-9) 20 11 16 11 58
Richmond (64)
McKinley-Bigalk 12, Hubbard 19, Treston Bennett 5, Tyrel Brown 7, Johnson-Phillips 13, Thomas Stargell 5, Jayvian Burdette 3
Northeastern (58)
Trent Deloney 0, Moore 13, Seal 14, Gavin Platt 0, Luke Wiley 0, Marshall Phillips 6, Brody Ross 8, Durbin 10, Jarrett Leitner 7
JV results: Northeastern 50 (Noah DuVall 18) Richmond 44 (J’Dynn Christie 18)
A version of this article appeared in the January 28 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.