HIGHLANDERS FLY PAST HIGH POINT ON NATIONAL TELEVISION

BOX SCORE Follow @RadfordMBB | Tweet #RadfordMBB

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Radford took advantage of an ESPNU stage Friday night to showcase its pressure defense and high-flying transition offense in an 81-72 Big South victory at High Point. Javonte Green's 23 points and seven rebounds led RU, and five first-half dunks and another in the second half provided plenty of highlights in the win.

The Highlanders stormed to a 17-point halftime lead, 43-26, on the shoulders of 60 percent shooting. Radford scored 30 of its points in the paint, 13 off eight Panther turnovers, and held an 8-2 advantage in fast break points. Green made all six of his field goals in the first 20 minutes.

"We want to play fast and up tempo," Radford head coach Mike Jones said. "Our defensive intensity led to transition baskets. Javonte is one of the top players in the Big South, and tonight he showed a national television audience that fact."

After back-to-back games where the Highlanders got off to slow starts, Radford was aggressive from the onset Friday pushing to a 27-10 lead at the midway point of the first half.

"We made a concerted effort to come out strong," Jones said. "I have wanted us to run more, and tonight we were much more aggressive in transition, but it all started on the defensive end."

Green and the supporting cast were equally impressive throughout the second half in holding off a hard-charging High Point team, which has now dropped nine of its last 10 games and both in league play.

The Panthers shot 53 percent in the second half and cut the RU lead to a little as five points, 75-70, with 1:18 remaining. The guard combination of R.J. Price and Rashun Davis sealed the win with ball control and free throws down the stretch.

Both were able to create both in transition and in the half court offense with Davis on three offensive trips working the shot clock and getting penetration to draw fouls or get to the rim and score. His layup to give the Highlanders an eight-point lead in the final two minutes was the last field goal RU would score.

Price finished with 14 points, leaving him two shy of becoming the 21st 1,000-point scorer in Radford history. Davis had 13, and Ya Ya Anderson tallied 11. Jalen Carethers added nine points off the bench. The RU bench held a 22-12 scoring advantage on the night.

John Brown led the Panthers with 21 points, but was 6-14 from the field. Adam Weary also had 21 for HPU.

Radford moves its record to 12-5 and 2-0 in the Big South. The Highlanders return to the Dedmon Center on Wednesday, January 15 to face rival VMI. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

Print Friendly Version