BOX SCORE

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C./United Faith Christian) led five Radford players in double figures with a season-high 23 points as the Highlanders held off Gardner-Webb 80-73 in Big South men's basketball action Thursday evening at Paul Porter Arena.

Along with just missing Radford's single-game record for steals in a contest with seven, Smith finished with four rebounds, four assists and three blocks, while going 7 of 13 from the floor, including four buckets from behind the arc.

“Blake was outstanding in all facets of the game,” said Radford head coach Brad Greenberg.

Art Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus – 15 points, 12 rebounds) and Laz Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia – 13 points, 11 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles for the Highlanders, while fellow starters Joey Lynch-Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) and Amir Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Quaker Valley) each added 12 points.

“Having five guys in double figures in back-to-back games is a good sign. It's the offensive balance needed when teams collapse on Art in the paint.”

For the second straight contest, Johnson, Radford's all-time leader in assists, handed out eight assists to just one turnover.

“Amir is doing a good job taking care of the basketball as evidence of him leading the conference in assists and assist/turnover ratio,” Greenberg said.

On the heels of going 0-for-2 from the charity stripe Monday at James Madison, the Highlanders got to the line 37 times tonight, but connected on just 20 of their attempts for a 54 percent clip.

“We have to start making free throws, they can be the difference in a close game.”

After Anton Silver's trey cut the Bulldogs' deficit to six, 49-43, Radford responded with an 11-4 spurt to stretch the margin back to double digits, 60-47.

Six straight free throws by Gardner-Webb (6-14, 3-7), including five from C.J. Hailey, capped off a 14-4 flurry to make it 64-61 with 7:24 remaining, but that's as close as it would get.

Silver paced three Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points on 7 of 16 shooting. Hailey chipped in 12 and Auryn MacMillan contributed 11 in 14 minutes off the bench.

The two clubs went back and forth for more than 12 minutes before Radford (11-9, 7-3) closed the opening half on an 18-8 run, highlight by 10 of Parakhouski's 12 first-half points, to take a 41-31 lead into the locker room.

“Cole Wilder (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) and Jeremy Robinson (Baltimore, Md./Tallahassee C.C.) gave us the boost we needed in the first half.”

Smith, who recorded five steals and two blocks in the first half, also scored 12 points prior to intermission, including 11 of Highlanders' first 13.

Both teams shot 48 percent in the first half, but combined for 26 turnovers.

In addition to holding a 44-38 edge on the glass, the Highlanders finished with a season-high 15 steals.

Radford will continue its four-game road trip with a 4:30 p.m. contest at UNC Asheville Saturday.