KEY PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH LIFT RADFORD TO 64-56 WIN

Saturday, November 21

Smithfield, R.I.

4PM

Radford University

3-2

Prairie View A&M

0-4

Team	1	2	F
Prairie View A&M	24	32	56
Radford	29	35	64

Photo by: RUHighlanderPhotos.com

KEY PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH LIFT RADFORD TO 64-56 WIN

11/21/2015 7:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Follow @RadfordMBB

GAME INFORMATION

Score: Radford 64, Prairie View A&M 56
Records: Radford (3-2) | Prairie View A&M (0-4)
Location: Chace Athletic Center | Smithfield, R.I.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Getting key plays over the final seven minutes, the Radford men's basketball team prevailed in a tightly-contested game with Prairie View A&M, 64-56, Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the 2K Classic subregional at Bryant University.
The game was close throughout and deadlocked at 44 before the Highlanders got a three-point play from Rashun Davis and a 3-pointer from YaYa Anderson for a six-point lead with 6:04 left.
Prairie View cut the deficit to 50-48, but baskets by Davis and Justin Cousin, a dunk by Ed Polite, Jr. off an Anderson assist, and two free throws by Davis gave Radford an eight-point cushion with 1:31 remaining.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Davis scored 18 points on 5 of 8 shooting (7 of 9 from the free-throw line) to lead the Highlanders. He added five rebounds and four assists.
Polite, Jr. recorded the first double-double of his freshman campaign with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had a team-high three blocks.
Darius Bolstad also scored in double figures for the second straight game, tallying 10 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Behind the freshman duo, RU got its third consecutive big game from its bench, totaling 37 points in this one.
Sterling Christy scored six of his eight points in the second half, converting a pair of key three-point plays that tied the game and brought the Highlanders within one, respectively.
Anderson had his best game of the season with nine points, two assists and two steals.
Radford showed patience against Prairie View's aggressive zone and was rewarded with timely baskets. The Highlanders made seven field goals near the end of the shot clock, including Davis' go-ahead three-point play and Anderson's trey that followed.
RU's early shooting struggles continued in the opening half (36 percent), but the team crashed the boards for 10 offensive rebounds. The Highlanders finished the game with a 41-29 advantage on the glass (16 were on the offensive end). Polite, Jr. had eight of those.
Radford improved its shooting in the second half, hitting 11 of 22 to finish at 42 percent for the game.
The game featured seven lead changes and six ties, with neither team holding more than a five-point lead for most of the contest.
Jaryn Johnson had a game-high 19 points for Prairie View, which shot 42 percent from the field.

QUOTABLE

"Anytime you can come down the stretch in a game that's tight and make all the plays that you need to finish the game—rebounding, diving on the floor, jumping out of bounds for loose balls, making tough catches—that's great. I thought we did a decent job of stopping their transition push and staying in front on their drives, and then we won the rebounding battle by 12, which is a big number in college basketball, so I'm proud of the way we were able to complete possessions. In the first few games, we had not had a lot of plays (at the end of shot clocks) but tonight the guys took their time, they shared the ball freely and made the extra pass, and it resulted in the defense breaking down late." ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones

UP NEXT

Radford complete its three-game road trip and caps off a busy opening stretch when it travels to Penn State on Tuesday.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in University Park, Pa.