CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Defense, of all things, saved the University of Virginia men's basketball team last night.

With 8:40 remaining, the University of Richmond had hit 51 percent of its field-goal attempts, led by 12 points and appeared ready to add its name to the long list of opponents that have shredded U.Va.'s defense this season.

Without warning, though, the Cavaliers clamped down on the Spiders, and the crowd of 4,022 at John Paul Jones Arena finally came to life. Richmond found passing lanes clogged and shots contested. Virginia held UR to three points in the final eight minutes and rallied to win 66-64 in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

By game's end, the Spiders' field-goal percentage had dipped to 42.6.

The Cavaliers played with a sense of urgency late in the game, all-ACC guard Sean Singletary said. "We just got in the huddle and were like, 'We need to get these stops right here,' and that's just what we did."

Third-year coach Dave Leitao wasn't happy with his team's overall defensive effort, but he has five days to try to fix those problems. Virginia (16-15) will host Old Dominion (18-15) in a CBI quarterfinal Monday night.

"We're fortunate enough to keep playing," said Singletary, whose basket with 1:15 remaining put the Wahoos ahead for good last night. "A lot of teams aren't playing now."

U.Va. very nearly became one of those teams. With only one day to prepare for the Spiders' version of the Princeton offense -- the 16-team CBI field wasn't announced until around 2 a.m. Monday -- Virginia found itself "exposed and carved up," as Leitao put it, for much of the game.

UR's sixth backcourt layup pushed its lead to 61-49 with 8:40 remaining.

"We were handling their pressure well, making the extra pass, through the first 35 minutes," said 6-9 sophomore Dan Geriot, who led the Spiders (16-15) with 22 points. "Things were looking good."

Not for Virginia. "I thought probably, including myself, most people in the arena thought it was over," Leitao said.

But the Cavaliers' shots started to fall, and the Spiders' fouls started to mount. The officiating crew called only three personals on U.Va. in the second half, to 10 for Richmond. The Wahoos shot 13 more free throws than UR after intermission.

One noncall in particular irked the Spiders. Richmond forward Kevin Smith drove into the lane and put up a shot with about 10 seconds left. There was contact, but to UR's disbelief, no foul was called, and Virginia forward Adrian Joseph grabbed the rebound.

"I actually thought I heard a whistle," U.Va. swingman Mamadi Diane said, "and for a second I froze. Then I saw my teammates scrambling for the ball."

Little came easily for the Cavaliers in this game, and the ending was no exception. Joseph hit the first of a one-and-one with 7.8 seconds left to make it 66-64, but then missed the second.

A long pass intended for Smith went off his hands and out of bounds, and Virginia guard Calvin Baker went to the line with 4.2 seconds left. He missed both shots, but the final seconds ticked off in the battle for the rebound.

Off the bench, Diane contributed 15 points and five rebounds, and forward Jamil Tucker added 10 and five. Tucker, a 6-8 sophomore, also helped quiet Geriot, who proved a difficult matchup on the perimeter for centers Ryan Pettinella and Laurynas Mikalauskas.

"I thought once we switched Jamil onto Geriot, a lot of [UR's success] subsided," Leitao said.

RICHMOND (16-15)

	M	FG	FT	R	PF	A	Pt
Smith-------------------------	34	4-8	0-0	8	2	2	9
Moliva-------------------------	16	1-2	0-0	2	0	1	2
Geriot-------------------------	38	9-12	1-2	5	2	2	22
Gonzalvez-------------------------	32	4-10	4-4	1	4	1	13
Anderson-------------------------	31	2-10	7-8	2	1	4	11
Giddings-------------------------	2	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0
Sylla-------------------------	19	2-6	0-0	3	0	4	5
Hovde-------------------------	3	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0
Harper-------------------------	3	0-2	0-0	1	0	0	0
Butler-------------------------	22	1-4	0-0	0	5	0	2
Team				3
Totals -------------------------		23-54	12-14	25	16	14	64

VIRGINIA (16-15)

	M	FG	FT	R	PF	A	Pt
Joseph-------------------------	14	1-4	1-2	3	2	0	4
Scott-------------------------	22	2-4	1-1	3	3	1	5
Pettinella-------------------------	12	0-0	1-2	1	0	0	1
Jones-------------------------	10	0-0	1-2	0	0	0	1
Singletary-------------------------	31	6-13	5-6	4	2	3	18
Farrakhan-------------------------	7	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0
Baker-------------------------	23	2-6	0-2	0	2	2	4
Mikalauskas----------------------	7	1-1	0-0	0	2	0	2
Tucker-------------------------	29	4-6	0-0	5	0	0	10
Diane-------------------------	33	4-9	5-7	5	0	0	15
Tat-------------------------	4	0-2	2-2	3	0	0	2
Meyinsse-------------------------	8	2-2	0-2	4	1	0	4
Team				5
Totals -------------------------		22-47	16-26	33	14	7	66

Richmond ------------------------- 33 31 -- 64
Virginia ------------------------- 31 35 -- 66

3-point goals -- Richmond (6-18): Geriot 3-5, Smith 1-2, Sylla 1-2, Gonzalvez 1-5, Butler 0-1, Anderson 0-3. Virginia (6-14): Tucker 2-4, Diane 2-5, Singletary 1-1, Joseph 1-2, Scott 0-1, Baker 0-1.

Turnovers -- Richmond (10): Smith 3, Moliva 2, Geriot 2, Gonzalvez 2, Anderson. Virginia (17): Singletary 4, Jones 3, Baker 3, Diane 2, Joseph, Farrakhan, Mikalauskas, Tucker, Team.

Blocked shots -- Richmond (6): Moliva 4, Smith, Gonzalvez. Virginia (8): Scott 3, Diane 2, Meyinsse 2, Joseph.

Steals -- Richmond (7): Sylla 3, Anderson 2, Gonzalvez, Butler. Virginia (4): Singletary 2, Scott, Diane.

A -- 4,022.