RADFORD'S TITLE HOPES DASHED AT LIBERTY

Thursday, February 26

Lynchburg, Va.

7:00 PM

Radford University

20-10, 11-6BSC

Liberty

8-22, 2-15BSC

Team	1	2	F
Radford	30	39	69
Liberty	32	48	80

Photo by: RUHighlanderPhotos.com

2/26/2015 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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LYNCHBURG, Va. - Radford (20-10, 11-6) saw its Big South regular season title hopes erased Thursday night in an 80-69 loss at Liberty (8-22, 2-15). The Highlanders fell into a tie for fourth with Winthrop and two games behind High Point with only Saturday's regular season finale against Gardner-Webb remaining. Javonte Green recorded his second straight double-double, but RU could not overcome a career night from Liberty's Theo Johnson, who poured in 26 points.

"We were not urgent enough right out of the gate, and we gave them a tremendous amount of confidence," Radford head coach Mike Jones said. "We didn't do anything to shut them down. Once they get their confidence like that, it is hard to turn it off."

Liberty stormed to a 13-point lead in the first half in the first 12 minutes of the game, only to have the Highlanders respond. Green scored nine of his 16 points and grabbed seven of his 11 rebounds to lead an RU comeback that saw the game tied at 30 before the Flames carried a 32-30 lead into the locker room.

R.J. Price took over the first five minutes of the second half scoring 11 straight points for the Highlanders and leading the charge to a 50-43 lead for RU with 14:44 to play when Green converted a steal into a thunderous breakaway dunk. Price finished with 20 points to lead four RU players in double figures, and it looked as though the visitors were going to find a way to salt away their seventh straight Big South road game. Liberty, however, had other ideas.

The Flames answered with a 13-0 run to take a six-point lead by the 10-minute mark of the second half. From there it was a back-and-forth affair with Radford holding its last lead at 66-65 with 3:31 remaining. A David Andoh layup at the 3:15 mark gave Liberty the lead for good and began a 15-3 run for the Flames to close out the game. RU was 1-9 from the field the rest of the way.

Along with Johnson's career high, Andrew Smith added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Flames, who are assured of the #11 seed in next week's conference tournament. Andoh chipped in with 14.

For the Highlanders, YaYa Anderson scored 15, and Cameron Jones added 11.

Radford can still tie for second place in the league standings with a win over Gardner-Webb and a High Point win over Charleston Southern. The Highlanders failed to secure a first-round bye in the league tournament on Thursday, but can with a win on Saturday. Tip against the Runnin' Bulldogs is at 4:00 p.m. at the Dedmon Center. Prior to the game, RU will honor its four seniors, Green, Price, Kyle Noreen, and Jalen Carethers.