Sixth-ranked Duke outscored Richmond 3-0 in the fourth quarter to come away with a hard-fought 11-7 victory over the No. 16 Spiders in non-conference men’s lacrosse action this evening at Robins Stadium. The Blue Devils held Richmond to just four goals in the final 57:42 minutes of the game. Brad Smith and Joe Robertson paced the Duke offense with three goals apiece. In goal, senior David McCann came off the bench to make eight saves, including three in the final frame. Richmond came out on fire to start the game, scoring three goals in the first 2:18, including one just seven seconds in, for a 3-0 lead on the Blue Devils. Duke buckled down on defense and settled in on offense and slowly chipped away at the Spider lead. Senior attackman Brad Smith put the Blue Devils on the board for the first time at the 11:21 mark of the first quarter to spark a 4-0 run for Duke. Smith added a second and Cameron Badour and Nakeie Montgomery added tallies as the Blue Devils went ahead 4-3 at the 10:09 mark of the second period. Duke put the clamps on the Richmond offense after its scorching start, holding the Spiders scoreless for 27:29 when Spiders ended their scoring drought with the tying goal with 12.6 seconds remaining in the first half. The back and forth affair continued in the third quarter with Richmond going ahead 5-4 four minutes into the period. The two top-20 teams traded goals over the next three minutes before the Blue Devils caught fire with three goals in a span of 1:36 for their largest lead of the game, 8-6. Rookie Garrett Leadmon started the spurt after a terrific ride, while junior Joey Manown capped the run on an assist from Joe Robertson. The Spiders refused to go away and quickly made it a one goal game, 8-7, again on a tally from Teddy Hatfield with 2:56 left in the third. The score was his third on the night, sending Richmond into the final quarter trailing the No. 6 Blue Devils by one. Hatfield led all Richmond scorers with three goals and an assist for four points. Sporting a one-goal lead heading into the final 15 minutes, regained a two-goal cushion three minutes into the period as Sean Lowrie found Montgomery for this second score of the night. Coupled with outstanding defensive play from the Blue Devils, Robertson sealed the victory with two goals in a span of 1:12. Junior Brian Smyth went 14-of-21 at the faceoff X and picked up eight ground balls to spur Duke’s victory. The Blue Devils outshot Richmond 44-30 for the game and won the ground ball battle 30-17. Duke returns home to host No. 1 Loyola March 7 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.