RICHMOND, Va. – Ron Whitcomb hit Josh Radulski on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 5:56 to play Saturday, lifting the 12th-ranked University of Maine to a 29-25 Atlantic 10 victory over Richmond in front of 5,031 fans at UD Stadium.

UMaine improved to 3-2 overall, 1-1 in league play, overcoming a 14-point first-half deficit with a determined comeback effort.

“We are fortunate to get out of here with a win today,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove, whose team played four of its first five games on the road.

“I think that our experience and our special teams really played a huge part in this game, which is something that we are really proud of this year,” he added.

The Bears trailed 25-22 midway through the fourth quarter when Whitcomb led the team 46 yards down the field for the game-winning score.

On a 3rd-and-6, Whitcomb found Arel Gordon for a 14-yard gain. Three plays later, on 4th-and-9, Whitcomb scrambled to his right and found Ryan Waller for an 11-yard pickup to set up the clinching touchdown.

“When we came to fourth down, it was time for our offense to step up,” Waller said.

The Whitcomb-to-Radulski TD hookup gave the Bears a four-point edge.

Whitcomb completed 17 of 28 passes for 159 yards and three TDs and was intercepted twice.

UMaine got the ball back 29 seconds later at its own 37, but Marcus Williams (18 carries, 71 yards) fumbled on the next play.

Richmond (2-3 overall, 1-1 A-10) could not capitalize. Quarterback Stacy Tutt (23-for-33, 219 yds., 3 INTs.) was sacked by Mike DeVito and Marcus Walton on third down, then Harry Wilson was stopped a yard short of a first down on a 4th-and-13 pass with 2:42 left.

UMaine ground out two first downs and ran out the clock.

The Spiders led 17-8 at halftime behind 73 rushing yards by Tutt. His 7-yard touchdown scamper with 12:13 left in the second quarter put the Spiders up 14-0.

“The coaching staff told us, ‘keep playing, keep playing,’ ” said Bears safety Daren Stone. “We came out really flat. We are not really used to their offense, so it took us a while to see what was going on.”

UMaine’s offense came alive with 4:35 remaining in the first half when Whitcomb connected with senior Christian Pereira (8 receptions, 103 yds.) for a 34-yard scoring strike. On the extra-point attempt, the Bears lined up to kick but freshman holder Anthony Cotrone ran for the two-point conversion.

Gordon gave UMaine a huge lift when he returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards down the sideline for a score.

It was Gordon’s second career kickoff return for a touchdown. Gordon returned three kickoffs for a total of 134 yards.

“I know the kickoff return to open the second half was huge,” Cosgrove said.

With Richmond threatening inside the UMaine 5 early in the third quarter, linebacker Jermaine Walker intercepted a Tutt pass in the end zone.

“We got one [turnover] in the end zone and that was huge,” Cosgrove said.

The defense came up big on the Spiders’ next possession when strong safety Brandon McGowan picked off Tutt and ran it back to the UR 11.

That set up an 8-yard TD throw to Radulski in the end zone and Mike Mellow’s extra point gave the Bears their first lead, 22-17, with 6:04 on the clock in the third quarter.

The Spiders outgained the Bears 421 yards to 235.

McGowan and Walker each recorded 13 tackles and Stone posted 12 stops. Each had interception.

BLACK BEARS 29, SPIDERS 25

Maine (3-2) 0 8 14 7 – 29

Richmond (2-3) 7 10 0 8 – 25

R – Freeman 4 run (Ball kick)

R – Tutt 7 run (Ball kick)

M – Pereira 34 pass from Whitcomb (Cotrone rush)

R – Ball 22 field goal

M – Gordon 88 kickoff return (Mellow kick)

M – Radulski 8 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

R – Tutt 1 run (Tutt rush)

M – Radulski 2 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

Maine Richmond

First downs 15 24

Rushing att.-yards 30-76 46-202

Passing comp.-att. 17-28 23-33

Passing yards 159 219

Total yards 235 421

Punts-avg. 3-47.3 4-40.2

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Intercepted by 3 2

Penalties-yards 3-30 6-57

Rushing

Maine: Williams 18-71, Owens 3-7, Legree 1-3, Whitcomb 5-1, Team 3-(-6); Richmond: Freeman 22-104, Tutt 18-86, Hightower 6-12

Passing

Maine: Whitcomb 17-28-2-159; Richmond: Tutt 23-33-3-219

Receiving

Maine: Pereira 8-103, Williams 2-18, Gordon 2-12, Radulski 2-10, Ry. Waller 2-8, Nwosu 1-8; Richmond: Wilson 13-146, Shilelds 3-28, Lehatto 3-26, Schools 2-14, Freeman 2-5

A-5,031