BOX SCORE |
VESTAL, N.Y. - It was a tale of two halves Saturday for Radford as the Highlanders overcame a 24-percent shooting performance in the first half and a 14-point second half deficit to post a 69-63 victory at Binghamton. Javonte Green's 17 points and eight rebounds led RU, and Allen Dickerson tied his career high with nine points for the second straight game.
The Bearcats built their biggest lead of the game with 17:58 to play, and Radford responded with a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to set up the comeback. The run culminated with back-to-back three-point baskets by Dickerson to cut the lead to just two points, 47-45.
Binghamton briefly pushed the lead back to six before the Highlanders completely took control of the game over the final 10 minutes.
"I though everybody on our team, including the players and the coaches, kept their poise tonight," head coach Mike Jones said. "I thought we pressed in the first half when our shots didn't fall, but we told them to be patient and let the offense develop."
Radford took its first lead since a 2-0 advantage at the beginning of the game on a jumper by Ya Ya Anderson at the 7:41 mark and never trailed again. Anderson finished with 12 on the night to finish in double figures for the fourth straight game to start the season. BU tied it twice after RU took the lead, but an Anderson three-pointer with 6:08 to play gave the Highlanders the lead for good, 60-57.
RU closed the final 10 minutes outscoring the Bearcats 22-10. Rashun Davis scored six of his 10 points in that run, and Green also scored six in the stretch, including two free throws to ice the game in the final minute. Green finished 11-13 from the charity stripe.
"At winning time we were pretty good," Jones said. "We really helped each other down the stretch."
A poor shooting first half for the Highlanders allowed Binghamton to build a nine-point lead by intermission, 37-28. Radford hit just 7-29 from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Highlanders shot 54.5 percent (12-22) in the second half and .735 from the free throw line (25-34) for the game.
Radford remains in the state of New York for a Monday night contest at Cornell. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. in Ithaca.
POSTGAME NOTES: The game was delayed for 23 minutes with 13:11 remaining in the first half when a power surge in the arena knocked out the lights.Â
Javonte Green moved past 500 career rebounds. The three-game winning streak is the longest during the
Mike Jones era. This is the second time in three years Radford has opened the season 3-1.
