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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Donald Hicks
Radford Athletics Communications
69
Central Penn CPC 5-1
91
Winner Radford RAD 1-1
Central Penn CPC
5-1
69
Final
91
Radford RAD
1-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Penn CPC 29 40 69
Radford RAD 48 43 91

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD PUTS FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN HOME-OPENING VICTORY



Box Score (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 91, Central Penn 69
  • Records: Radford (1-1) | Central Penn (5-1)
  • Location: Dedmon Center | Radford, Va.
 
RADFORD, Va. – Playing without two starters, the Radford men's basketball still got a balanced team effort and used a strong first-half performance to claim its first victory of the season Wednesday night, taking its home opener over Central Penn by a 91-69 decision.
 
Freshman Donald Hicks led five Highlanders in double figures with 19 points, while Justin Cousin added 16 points along with career highs of nine assists and four steals. Caleb Tanner and Devonnte Holland each chipped in 14 points, with Devin Cooper contributing 13.
 
Cousin had 12 of his points and seven assists in the first half, while Radford connected on six of its eight 3-pointers to build a 48-29 lead at the break. The Highlanders used a 15-5 run over a span of less than five minutes to break it open early. Tanner caught fire with three 3-pointers in the spurt, Christian Bradford added a layup and Holland scored four straight points to make it 27-12 with 7:33 left in the half. Radford then closed the half on a 3-pointer by Cousin and a dunk by Bradford for the 19-point advantage, shooting 55 percent from the field.
 
Central Penn hung tough in the second half and eventually whittled the deficit to 70-60 with 5:15 to play, but Radford answered with a 9-2 spurt to pull back away. Cooper and Hicks combined for three free throws and Cousin and Randy Phillips added layups to put the game away.
 
Radford will now prepare for a busy four-game stretch away from home next week that begins with a Sunday night game at Akron.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Hicks was an efficient 6 for 8 from the field, made all six of his free throws and added eight rebounds in the game. He tallied 13 of his points in the second half.
  • Cousin's previous career high in assists was three, which he had recorded three times.
  • Tanner was 5 for 8 shooting overall and 4 of 7 from long range. He finished two points shy of his career-best, which also came against Central Penn last year.
  • Holland was 6 for 6 from the field in the game and is now a perfect 10 for 10 in his first two collegiate outings. He added seven rebounds.  
  • Cooper was 3 of 5 from the field, but 7 of 9 from the free throw line, including 7 of 8 in the second half.
  • Radford shot 52 percent (31 of 60) as a team, while connecting on 21 of 27 at the charity stripe.
  • The four Highlander newcomers that played combined to make 14 of 20 shots and total 43 points.
  • Christian Lutete led the way on the glass with 13 rebounds, his second-best career total behind the 17 he grabbed in last year's meeting with the Knights.
  • Along with Cousin, five other Radford players recorded at least two assists as the team totaled 22 on its 31 field goals.
  • Ed Polite, Jr. and Sterling Christy sat out the game after sustaining minor injuries in practice.
  • The Highlanders won their 14th consecutive home opener and extended their streak of wins over non-Division I opponents to 35 in a row.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We knew coming into the game that Central Penn was a lot different of a team than last year with a new coach and a lot of new players and we knew they were going to be very scrappy. Even when we got a big lead they never quit, but I was proud of the way our guys finished the game and were more efficient the last 12 minutes to extend the lead. We had a lot of guys play a lot more minutes than they're used, and anytime those guys can get minutes they're going to get better. They're just going to figure things out. They come from good programs so they get out there and are going to make some mistakes, but they're also going to learn to do it right and that's what you saw tonight." ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
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