BOX SCORE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A season-high 16 points and five assists from Jareal Smith (Savannah, Ga./Johnson) weren't enough as Radford fell to Charlotte, 73-52, Saturday evening at Halton Arena.

The Highlander freshman finished 6-of-10 from the floor, while making a pair of treys in 26 minutes of action. Johnathan Edwards (Queens, N.Y./Tyler Junior College) also hit double figures for Radford (2-3) with 11 points, while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

“We are making progress,” said Radford head coach Brad Greenberg. “Jareal and Johnathan had their best games of the year. It was also great to see Tolga Cerrah (Ankara, Turkey/ODTU) out there for the first time. He is going to be an important player.”

Radford scored nine straight points, including five from Smith late in the contest to make it a 10-point game, 62-52, but the 49ers closed with 11 unanswered to push their lead to the largest of the evening, which was also the final margin.

The Charlotte (3-4) frontcourt of Chris Braswell (18) and Phil Jones (16) combined for 34 points, while missing just one of their 15 shots and grabbing seven and eight rebounds, respectively.

Charlotte, which shot 52 percent in the opening half, led by as many as 14 in the period before going into the break up, 33-21.

In addition to holding Radford to just 26.7 percent (8-30) in the first 20 minutes of action, the 49ers got 13 points from Braswell.

Gokhan Sirin also contributed double figures for the 49ers off the bench with 14 points, including a 4-of-7 showing from deep.

Despite the loss, the Highlanders finished with a season-low 10 turnovers, while going 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

“We took care of the basketball, but weren't able to defend the paint,” Greenberg said.

Charlotte continued its hot shooting in the second half (12-24) to conclude the first-ever meeting at 51 percent overall.

Radford returns home for its Big South opener Thursday evening against UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.