BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – Radford outscored Winthrop 14-0 the last 9:25 of action, including Art Parakhouski's (Minsk, Belarus) putback with two-tenths of a second remaining as the Highlanders secured the No. 2 seed in the Big South Men's Basketball Tournament with a 54-52 win Saturday at the Dedmon Center.

Parakhouski's game-winner came off an offensive rebound following a Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C./United Faith Christian) reverse layup, which rolled off the right side of the rim with just over a second to go.

“It was a wonderful night for all the seniors,” said Radford head coach Brad Greenberg. “I've been honored by having a chance to coach those five guys.”

After the Highlanders cut a 13-point deficit to 44-40 with a 15-6 streak, Mantoris Robinson responded with eight unanswered of his own, including a 3-point play with 9:25 left, to stretch the Eagles' advantage back to double figures, 52-40.

Senior Joey Lynch-Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) started Radford's game-changing run with a jumper at the 9:11 mark and Parakhouski concluded it with consecutive layups, including one with 44 seconds left to even the score, 52-52.

“We did a good job on the defensive boards during that stretch, and we didn't put them in the bonus, which was crucial.”

In addition to his game-winning bucket, Parakhouski recorded his nation-leading 24th double-double with a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds (7 offensive). Now with 383 boards on the year, the 6-11 center also broke his Big South and Radford single-season rebound record.

Lynch-Flohr also finished in double figures for the Highlanders with 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting, while Amir Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Quaker Valley) turned in a solid all-around performance with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Winthrop (16-13, 12-6 Big South), which missed its final 10 attempts from the floor, was held to just 28 percent (7-25) in the second half, the exact same total as the Highlanders' first-half clip. Radford (18-11, 13-5 Big South) shot 46.7 percent from the floor in the final period to finish the contest at 38.2 percent (21-55).

“We did a much better job getting the ball inside in the second half,” commented Greenberg. “Our second-chance points and points in the paint were huge.”

After being outscored 12-6 in the paint in the first 20 minutes of action, Radford reversed the trend in the second half (22-6) to finish with a 28-18 margin.

Radford concluded the contest 10 of 18 at the charity stripe, while Winthrop made all nine of its attempts.

Like the Highlanders, Winthrop placed two in double figures, led by Robinson's 14 points.

Along with holding Radford to just 28 percent from the field, including 1-for-8 (.125) from behind the arc in the first half, Winthrop used a 17-5 run to grab a 19-9 lead before heading to the break up, 32-21.

The Eagles, who led by as many as 14 (32-18), got 18 points from their bench in the opening half.

Despite the loss, Winthrop led from the 14:38 mark of the first half, until Parakhouski's tying layup with just under a minute to play.

Radford will host seventh-seeded Charleston Southern in the Big South quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.