RADFORD RISES ABOVE IN OT, SURVIVES CINCY CHRISTIAN RALLY TO WIN 10TH STRAIGHT HOME OPENER

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. - Radford survived a furious Cincinnati Christian rally from 21 points down to force overtime Monday night. The Highlanders outscored the Eagles 12-7 in the extra session to post their first win of the season, 76-71 in front of a raucous crowd at the Dedmon Center.

RU stormed to a 14-3 lead in the first eight minutes of the game and built that lead to 19 by intermission, 39-20. With the first bucket of the second half, the Highlanders were seemingly on cruise control with a 41-20 lead and just over 19 minutes to play.

Cincinnati Christian (0-4), however, had other plans. The Eagles, bolstered by a 13-0 run over nearly seven minutes in the second half, clawed their way back into the game and actually took the lead, 62-60 with 2:11 to play.

Radford (1-1) regained the lead after a made freethrow by Kion Brown and then a rebound on Brown's second attempt from the line by Blake Smith led to an R.J. Price layup that would give the Highlanders a 63-62 lead with just under a minute to play. A defensive stop and a CCU foul gave Ya Ya Anderson a chance to ice the game for RU with 19 seconds to play. The freshman hit one of two to put Radford ahead 64-62.

DJ McCommons then used an up-and-under move from 15 feet and hit a game-tying jumper as the horn sounded to send the game into overtime for the Eagles.

The Highlanders dominated the overtime period and built a lead by as many as nine points in the stanza. Javonte Green and Price each scored three points in the overtime. Green finished the night with his first double-double of the season at 14 points and 13 rebounds. Price for the second straight game led the Highlanders with 16 points. Kyle Noreen grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for RU as well.

A happy, but relieved head coach Mike Jones praised his team's resilient response to the Cincinnati Christian run that led to overtime. "This was a great learning experience for us tonight. How many close games did we let get away last year? This time we were able to put the game away."

RU again dominated the offensive glass with 24 offensive caroms to go with an equal 24 on the defensive end. The Highlanders finished with a 48-33 advantage on the backboards. Each team had 19 turnovers. Radford shot just 29.2 percent in the second half, and CCU hit nine of its 12 three-pointers in the second half during its comeback.

The win was the 10th straight season the Highlanders have won their home-opening contest. In the 39 years that Radford has had a program, the teams are 35-4 all-time.

Tonight's game was the first of four games in the Eastern Kentucky / Comfort Suites Invitational. The Highlanders will travel to Richmond, Ky. for the final three games of the tournament this weekend. They will face Towson on Friday at 8:00 p.m. and then Kennesaw State on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. RU finishes the week on Sunday playing the host Colonels at 5:00 p.m.

Print Friendly Version