BOX SCORE (PDF)

RADFORD, Va. – Radford dropped its Big South opener to UNC Asheville, 70-50, Thursday evening at the Dedmon Center.

Gorkem Sonmez (Istanbul, Turkey), who knocked down five of his club's eight 3-pointers, led the Highlanders with a career-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Fellow sophomore Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C./United Faith Christian Academy) also hit the 10-point plateau for Radford.

D.J. Cunningham led three Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points, while the backcourt duo of Matt Dickey and J.P. Primm contributed 14 each.

POST-GAME COMMENTS: Head coach Brad Greenberg

Primm also went 9-of-10 at the charity stripe for the Bulldogs, who as a team finished 24-of-39.

After the Highlanders closed to within one, 28-27, on Sonmez' fourth triple of the half, UNC Asheville scored the final six points of the period to take a 34-27 lead into the break.

In addition to holding Radford to just 32 percent, the Bulldogs shot 54.5 percent in the first 20 minutes of action, while scoring 20 of their 32 points in the paint.

Sonmez, who made all four of his attempts from deep in the half, led all players at intermission with 14 points.

UNCA opened the second half on a 21-7 run, capped off by a Dickey four-point play, which stretched the margin to 49-34 with 11:39 left.

The Bulldogs finished the contest shooting 45 percent (22-for-49), while holding Radford to a season-low 28 percent (14-for-50).

Despite the loss, the Highlanders shot 53.5 percent (8-for-15) from long range.

Radford will conclude its brief homestand with a 7 p.m. tip against Gardner-Webb Saturday evening.