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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Ed Polite, Jr.
RUHighlanderPhotos.com
68
Radford RAD 10-9, 3-4 BSC
69
Winner Presbyterian PC 8-10, 3-4 BSC
Radford RAD
10-9, 3-4 BSC
68
Final
69
Presbyterian PC
8-10, 3-4 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 25 43 68
Presbyterian PC 31 38 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD FALLS SHORT AT PRESBYTERIAN, 69-68


 
  GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Presbyterian College 69, Radford 68
  • Records: Radford (10-9, 3-4) | Presbyterian (8-10, 3-4)
  • Location: Templeton Center | Clinton, S.C.
 
CLINTON, S.C. – Rashun Davis was unable to pull off more last-second magic on the road as his half-court shot at the buzzer hit off the rim and Presbyterian held on for a 69-68 win over Radford in Big South men's basketball play Saturday night.
 
After Radford rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the second half, the game was tightly contested with nine ties, the last at 60-60 on a layup by Ed Polite, Jr. with 2:39 left. Presbyterian then got a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to take a five-point lead. Davis came back with a 3-pointer, but the Blue Hose added a layup to make it 67-63 with 1:19 to play. A missed Highlander 3-pointer then led to a PC fast break, but Cameron Jones came from behind to block the layup attempt and Brandon Holcomb got an easy dunk on the other end to cut the deficit to two again.
 
Following a Blue Hose turnover, Davis couldn't get a runner to go off the glass and Presbyterian's Reggie Dillard made two free throws. Davis was able to bank in a 3-pointer and the Highlanders fouled PC star DeSean Murray with 3.2 on the clock. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1, setting up Davis' desperation attempt that would have been his third game-winner of the season.
 
Polite, Jr. finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his second straight double-double. Davis had 15 points and four assists, while Jones added 14 points and five rebounds.
 
The Highlanders started the game well, moving the ball against Presbyterian's zone, scoring on its first four possessions and building a 12-3 lead. However, they went cold from there, going through an almost seven-minute scoring drought and making just 7 of their last 23 attempts of the half. Meanwhile, Murray got going for the Blue Hose scoring 10 straight points – the last six of which began an 11-0 run that gave his team a 23-16 lead. He then scored the half's last four, giving him 18 for the period.

Trailing 38-31, Radford used a 13-6 spurt to even the game for the first time, setting up a back and forth final 13 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Polite's double-double was his fourth of the season. He nearly achieved it in the first half alone, tallying eight points and eight rebounds. He also recorded three blocks for the fifth time this season.
  • Justin Cousin also reached double-figures with 10 points, including eight straight for the Highlanders during their run early in the second half.
  • Radford once again improved its shooting in the second half, making 14 of 31 - including 7 of 14 from long range – to finish at 42 percent from the field.
  • However, Presbyterian was even better, hitting on 11 of its first 17 attempts and finishing the second stanza at 54 percent before ending the game at an even 50 percent.
  • The Highlanders were hurt by poor free-throw shooting, as they converted just 11 of 23, while PC hit 10 of 12.
  • The Blue Hose, which entered the game last in the conference in rebounding, stayed close on the glass with RU holding just a 35-33 edge. Undersized PC also outscored the Highlanders 36-26 in the paint.
  • Radford countered by converting 14 turnovers into 22 points. After committing six first-half turnovers themselves, the Highlanders had just three in the last 20 minutes.
  • Murray finished with 22 points – just over his conference-leading average – but the last of them came with 15:19 remaining in the second half. He went to the bench shortly after with three fouls and sat for nearly four minutes. The game was tied at 46-46 when he left and still tied at 54-54 when he returned.
  • Markus Terry and Reggie Dillard were among the Blue Hose players to pick up the slack during that period and down the stretch. They finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively, combining to hit 9 of 16 from the field.
  • Radford fell to 2-8 this season coming off a win and suffered its fourth straight road loss.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "Rashun got a good look and it was on line, but it didn't go. It really shouldn't have come down to that last shot if we had dug in a little harder and got a few more stops down the stretch, particularly the last eight or 10 minutes of the game. We were pretty good defensively (in the game), but just not quite good enough. We allowed a lot of uncontested shots early and we shut that down a little bit, but they'd get an offensive rebound or drive by us so we were close, but not quite good enough. Anytime you go on the road it's tough and teams are scrapping even more at home to make sure they take care of homecourt, and those guys did that and got themselves a win." ~ Radford head coach, Mike Jones
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford returns to the New River Valley for its only conference homestand of the season, beginning with Wednesday night's matchup against Campbell.
  • Tipoff inside the Dedmon Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 
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