BOX SCORE (PDF)

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Despite a season-high 19 points from Blake Smith (Charlotte, N.C. / United Faith Christian Academy) and four players in double figures, Radford fell to High Point, 72-70, in Big South men's basketball action Saturday evening at the Millis Center.

Smith, who hit consecutive 3-pointers to get the Highlanders to within one, 71-70, with just six seconds left, also finished with five rebounds and five steals.

Following Smith's fourth triple of the game, High Point's Du'Vaughn Maxwell hit the second of two free throws with six ticks to go before Radford missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“Our resilience was tremendous tonight,” said Highlander head coach Brad Greenberg. “We came back time and time again from large deficits.”

Coming off a 25-point effort, Jareal Smith (Savannah, Ga. / Johnson) added 15, while Gorkem Sonmez (Istanbul, Turkey) and Martins Abele (Saldus, Latvia) scored 10 each for Radford (5-18, 2-11 Big South).

After Radford used an 18-7 run to cut the deficit to four, 55-51, with 9:04 left, the Panthers (9-13, 6-7 Big South) scored seven unanswered, including four technical free throws to stretch the margin back to double figures.

Trailing 62-51 at the 8:01 mark, the Highlanders reeled off eight straight of their own to make it, 62-59, but High Point pushed the lead back to six (70-64) with 45 seconds to play.

“I'm extremely proud of the incredible persistence our team displayed.”

Shay Shine paced High Point with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including four of his club's seven treys. Nick Barbour and Maxwell also hit the 10-point plateau for the Panthers with 14 and 11, respectively.

The Highlanders shot a blistering 57.7 percent in the second half to finish the contest shooting 45.1 percent and 7-of-14 from long range.

High Point raced out to a 20-6 lead and stretched it to as many as 20 (32-12) before heading to the half up, 38-27.

In addition to recording 10 steals, Radford held a 39-31 advantage on the glass.

“We made a lot of breaks with outstanding hustle and effort,” Greenberg said.

Radford returns to action Thursday when it travels to Liberty for a 7 p.m. contest.