BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – For the fourth time in the last five contests, Radford placed five in double figures as the Highlanders rolled past High Point 77-63 in Big South men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon at the Dedmon Center.

Along with connecting on 52.9 percent of their field goal attempts (27-for-51), the Highlanders (13-10, 9-4 Big South) held High Point (11-12, 6-6) to 30.3 percent shooting (20-for-66), including just seven made field goals in the second half.

After trailing 38-37 at halftime, Radford outscored High Point 40-25 in the second half. The Highlanders took control of the contest with an 18-6 run over 10:08, extending their lead to 61-49 with 7:27 left.

Radford's balanced scoring effort was led by freshman Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C./United Faith Christian), who scored 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Smith was joined by 12-point efforts from Art Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus), Laz Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia), and freshman Gorkem Sonmez (Istanbul, Turkey/St. Mary's Ryken). Joey Lynch-Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) chipped in with 10 points.

Parakhouski, who added 17 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season, tied a career-high with his six blocks.

The Highlanders connected on five of their eight 3-point tries (62.5 percent) in the game and 14 of their last 24 dating back to Tuesday's game at VMI.

High Point was led by 19 points each from Nick Barbour and Eugene Harris. Corey Law grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points.

“The second half was outstanding defensively,” head coach Brad Greenberg said. “We focused on guarding Barbour and Harris by contesting their 3-point attempts, a difficult task given High Point's offensive philosophy.”

High Point made 6 of 13 from behind the 3-point line in the first half, including four from Barbour, before allowing the Panthers to go 3-for-12 from behind the arc in the second half.

Despite shooting 58 percent (14-for-24), including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes of action, Radford committed 11 turnovers in the opening half and trailed at the break.

Phillip Martin (Roanoke, Va./Roanoke Catholic), who was back in the lineup for the first time since injuring his ankle at James Madison (Jan. 25), put the Highlanders up 30-23 with a three-point play. High Point quickly responded with eight unanswered to retake the lead, 31-30, with 4:17 left.

After Parakhouski gave Radford a 37-35 advantage, High Point's Barbour was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer with under a second to go in the half and made all three tries to put the Panthers up one.

High Point closed to within six on separate occasions, but got no closer as Radford stretched the margin back to double figures for good on a Sonmez 3-pointer with 1:16 left that extended the lead to 74-62.

“Gorkem's defense was even more important than his offensive spark,” Greenberg said. “He did a wonderful job covering Harris. Some of our younger players are starting to perform more consistently and with more confidence.”

Radford returns to action Thursday evening at the Dedmon Center when it hosts Charleston Southern in a 7 p.m. tip.