GREEN SCORES 26, RU DEFENSE STEPS UP IN 58-57 WIN OVER WINTHROP

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. - Radford got 26 points from Javonte Green and overcame a 10-point second half deficit with its defensive tenacity in the final minutes to defeat Winthrop, 58-57, Saturday at the Dedmon Center.

Winthrop (8-11, 2-5) withstood a scoring fury by Green in the first 15 minutes and closed the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 29-27 lead to intermission. Green, who scored 20 of Radford's 27 first-half points, hit 9 of 10 from the field in the first half when the remaining Highlanders were just 3-15.

The Eagles extended that lead to 10 with an 8-0 run to open the second half. The final six points of the stretch coming on back-to-back three-point baskets by Andre Smith and Derrick Henry. The pair led Winthrop on the day with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Radford (10-11, 4-3), which had not come back to win from a halftime deficit in 10 other games this season, willed its way back into this one. R.J. Price buried a three-pointer followed by Rashun Davis from behind the arc to claw the Highlanders back to within striking distance.

After trailing again by as many as 10 with 8:50 to play, the Highlanders went on a 7-0 run to close within three at 49-46. Another Smith field goal from deep pushed the lead back to six, but Davis nailed his second three of the night, then forced a steal, and assisted on Kion Brown's three-point play that tied the game at 52 with just over three minutes to play.

"At the end of the day, our guys never caved in," head coach Mike Jones said. "I am seeing something special happening with our team. They are just bearing down and not worrying when things go bad. Our goal has been all season to play 40 minutes worth of basketball, and if things don't end up the way we want it to, at least we know we laid it all on the line and did things the way we want to do them. Tonight we did that."

Henry answered for the Eagles with a jumper in the paint. Radford responded with a couple free throws from Green. A miss on the offensive end and a defensive rebound from Kyle Noreen, who finished with a game-high eight caroms for the Highlanders, set up a layup by Brown with 1:49 to play that gave RU its first lead of the second half.

Smith, however, answered yet again for Winthrop nailing a corner three that gave the Eagles back the lead with just 1:26 remaining. It would be the final points of the night for Winthrop.

Price would have the last punch in this heavyweight battle. His spinning layup with just under a minute to play gave the Highlanders their margin of victory, but it did not come easy. RU stopped Winthrop on its final two possessions inside a minute to seal the victory on the defensive end of the floor.

"This was my type of game," Jones said. "It was basically a mud wrestling match. We made one stop at at time, and there is a feeling of resolve now to come back and make runs of our own."

Price finished with 12 points, and Davis chipped in with 10. The Highlanders held a 14-0 advantage in fast break points and 21-11 in points off turnovers.

Radford hosts VMI on Wednesday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m., while Winthrop hosts Coastal Carolina on the same night in a 7:00 p.m. tip.

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