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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Davis-20160211-1
60
Winner Radford RAD 14-11, 7-6 BSC
59
UNC Asheville AVL 17-9, 10-4 BSC
Winner
Radford RAD
14-11, 7-6 BSC
60
Final
59
UNC Asheville AVL
17-9, 10-4 BSC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 28 32 60
UNC Asheville AVL 32 27 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD BATTLES BACK FOR 60-59 VICTORY AT UNC ASHEVILLE



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 60, UNC Asheville 59
  • Records: Radford (14-11, 7-6) | UNC Asheville (17-9, 10-4)
  • Location: Kimmel Arena | Asheville, N.C.
 
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Rashun Davis converted a go-ahead driving layup with 15 seconds left and Radford held UNC Asheville scoreless over the final 3:18 to rally for a 60-59 victory over the first-place Bulldogs, Thursday night in Big South men's basketball action.
 
Davis' deuce gave the Highlanders their first lead since the score was 11-10 and capped a 6-0 RU run to close the game. Cameron Jones scored a game-high 21 points, while Davis finished with 16.
 
Trailing by four at halftime, Radford battled back to even the score five times in the second half before finally getting over the hump in the final minute.

Down 59-54, YaYa Anderson hit his second 3-pointer of the game with 2:44 left. The teams then exchanged a series of turnovers over the next two minutes with Davis getting a crucial steal and hitting one free throw to make it 59-58 with 36 seconds to go. The Highlanders' full-court pressure then forced another UNCA turnover, and Davis drove the left side of the lane for the game-winning basket.
 
Davis' ball pressure on UNCA guard Dylan Smith led to an Anderson steal and he was fouled with two seconds remaining. He missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but after a timeout, Smith's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
 
Radford started out the game capitalizing on its height advantage as Ed Polite, Jr. and Kion Brown each scored four points inside for an 11-6 lead. However, the Highlanders followed by going over seven minutes without a field goal. That allowed UNCA to take the lead it held nearly the entire way, using a 15-3 run for a 21-14 cushion.

It was 28-20 before Jones closed the half with eight straight RU points – a pair of 3-pointers around an alley-oop dunk from Davis – to help the Highlanders trim the deficit to four (32-28) at the break.
 
RU tied it three times early in the second half, before Asheville moved back ahead 46-40. But the Highlanders answered with a 10-3 spurt, capped by another Jones 3-pointer, to make it 50-49 with 7:52 to play and take the game down to the wire.
 
Radford will have little time to celebrate as it turns around quickly for a rematch against Winthrop with tipoff on Saturday at 12 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center. The game will again be televised by the American Sports Network.

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INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Radford swept the season series with UNC Asheville for the first time since the Big South championship season of 2008-09.
  • The Highlanders are now 5-3 on the season in games decided by four points or less and have won six games in which they took the lead for good in the final 1:30 of the contest.
  • Radford improved to 9-2 following a loss and notched its third win in 14 games this season when trailing at halftime.
  • Anderson scored all eight of his points in the second half and his two 3-pointers gave him 220 for his career, moving him into a tie for fifth in program history with Anthony Walker.
  • Polite, Jr. pulled down a team-leading 11 rebounds, giving him nine straight games with at least seven boards. It was his seventh game of the year with double-digit rebounds.
  • That helped RU to a 39-29 advantage on the glass in the game, including 21 on the offensive end - its second-most of the season - leading to 20 second-chance points.
  • The Highlanders also turned the tables on UNCA, forcing the Bulldogs into 17 turnovers and converting them into 19 points.
  • Those two stats helped offset Asheville's shooting advantage as it finished at 52 percent, while Radford hit at a 43 percent clip. However, the Highlanders totaled six 3-pointers, compared to just one for the Bulldogs.
  • UNCA's 27 points were the fewest allowed by Radford in a second half this season.
  • Brown finished with seven points and six rebounds in 25 minutes with Brandon Holcomb in foul trouble from the start.
  • Dwayne Sutton led UNCA with 16 points, while Ahmad Thomas had 14 and Smith totaled 12.
  • The Bulldogs suffered just their second home loss of the season and first in conference play.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "Like any college basketball game, there were ups and downs, and it's just a matter of how you handle those things. As long as that clock is ticking, you have a chance in games like that. We've been in that situation before. We had some turnovers down the stretch, but we came back and forced them to turn it over, so we kept giving ourselves chances because we didn't cave in to the negative. We had great resolve and it paid off for us. Rashun's delivered for us. He has the heart to do it, and he's not afraid to fail because of the type of competitor he is. We don't stay in the game tonight if we're not mentally tough. They're on their homecourt in front of a TV audience and in first place, so they had a lot of confidence. But when the ball goes up, it's who's the better and tougher team that night and tonight we were." ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones

 
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