BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – The senior frontcourt duo of Joey Lynch-Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) and Art Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus) combined for 41 points and 24 rebounds, and freshman Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C./United Christian Academy) scored 17 points to give Radford a come-from-behind 76-65 win over Navy in both teams' season opener Friday at the Dedmon Center.

Radford (1-0), which trailed 37-31 at halftime, reversed the trend in the second half by shooting 57 percent from the floor and outscoring the Midshipmen (0-1) 32-12 in the paint.

The Highlanders also stifled Navy's offensive attack, allowing the Midshipmen to shoot just 29 percent in the final period.

“It was a terrific win,” head coach Brad Greenberg said. “We made some nice defensive adjustments in the second half to guard them intelligently and we did a good job of finding Art in crucial periods in the second half.

“For the first time out, and given the adjustments that we had to make, and playing zone for the entire game with a limited bench, we had a good win.”

Lynch-Flohr finished with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, and tallied his 10th career double-double by adding 11 rebounds.

Parakhouski, who only had two points at halftime, scored 18 in the second to finish with 20 on a 7-for-14 performance. His 13 boards gave him the 18th double-double of his career.

“In the second half, I just told myself we needed to win, since we didn't beat them last year at Navy,” Parakhouski said.

Smith, who hit 7-of-11 shots, made up half of a true freshman starting duo that included point guard Evan Faulkner (Sandy Hook, Ky./Elliott County).

“I definitely did not expect this kind of performance in my first game,” Smith said. “I came in to be a contributor, but I got more comfortable as the game went on.”

“On our team, anyone can play, and this was a good experience for our young guys,” Parakhouski said.

Chris Harris led the Midshipmen with his 21 points. Jordan Sugars added a double-double performance of 16 points and 16 rebounds.

“Navy was a fiercely competitive, physical team with experienced players,” Greenberg said. “Their five starters all played a lot last year, and they're a solid team. It was good for us to get a win like that.”

Parakhouski's three-point play at 11:02 and dunk off a steal ten seconds later made it 54-47 and capped a 9-0 run to help the Highlanders open up the lead.

The Midshipmen chipped away at the deficit and went ahead with a 7-0 run capped by T.J. Topercer's three-point play at 3:31 that made it 63-62.

Phillip Martin's (Roanoke, Va./Roanoke Catholic) putback off his own miss at 2:02 gave the Highlanders back the advantage at 64-63. After a Parakhouski free throw made it a three-point lead, his dunk at 1:18 made it 67-63, Radford.

“We got contributions from everyone,” Greenberg said. “Art had a great second half, Joey put in a strong all-around game, Phillip was solid, and Evan and Blake made some key plays as well.”

Harris scored 16 of his 21 in the first half, hitting on 4-of-8 shots from beyond the arc, to lead the Midshipmen to a 37-31 lead at the half. Along with Harris' effort and Sugars' 11 first-half points, Navy scored 12 points in the paint to six for Radford.

Navy used a 9-2 run inside the 2:32 mark that opened up a cushion late in the first. With five seconds left Sugars gave the Midshipmen a nine-point lead, 37-29, but Smith's half-court shot at the buzzer trimmed the margin to six.

Radford is back at the Dedmon Center on Tuesday night, hosting Lynchburg College at 7 p.m.