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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Donald Hicks
Red Rocket Productions & Photography
76
Winner Radford RAD 8-8, 3-1 BSC
63
Presbyterian PC 4-11, 0-4 BSC
Winner
Radford RAD
8-8, 3-1 BSC
76
Final
63
Presbyterian PC
4-11, 0-4 BSC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 35 41 76
Presbyterian PC 29 34 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

HICKS LEADS BALANCED RADFORD TO 76-63 WIN AT PRESBYTERIAN



Box Score (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 76, Presbyterian 63
  • Records: Radford (8-8, 3-1) | Presbyterian (4-11, 0-4)
  • Location: Templeton Center | Clinton, S.C.
 
CLINTON, S.C. – The Radford men's basketball team made sure another game against Presbyterian didn't come down to the wire Saturday afternoon, getting a balanced offensive performance and maintaining control most of the way in a 76-63 Big South Conference win.
 
The Highlanders notched their second straight road victory, fourth in the last five games overall and won at Presbyterian for the first time in three seasons, getting back a bit at the Blue Hose for a pair one-point setbacks last year, including one in the Big South Tournament.
 
Donald Hicks led four players in double figures with 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Justin Cousin tallied 16 points. Ed Polite, Jr. totaled 13 points and seven rebounds and Caleb Tanner chipped in 12 points.
 
After the teams combined to miss the game's first 11 shots, the rest of the first half featured runs for both teams. Following 10 straight misses to start, Radford connected on 7 of its next 10 attempts. Polite, Jr. got it going with four straight points, Hicks hit a jumper and Cousin followed with a 3-pointer in a 9-0 spurt that made it 10-5. The Highlanders then used two 3-pointers by Tanner and another from Hicks to begin a 13-2 run that pushed the lead to 27-12 with 6:10 left in the half.
 
A layup by Darius Bolstad on a nice post move made it 31-18 with 3:47 to go, but that was the last Radford field goal before the break. Presbyterian took advantage of four straight Highlander turnovers for a 9-0 run of its own to get within four. Cousin and Hicks each made a pair of free throws late for a 35-29 edge going to the locker room.
 
The teams exchanged baskets early in the second half before Christian Bradford and Hicks each scored five points in a 10-2 spurt to push the lead back to double digits at 49-37. Bradford started it with a jumper and a corner 3-pointer before Hicks drained five straight free throws. Presbyterian tried to battle back, cutting the deficit into single digits briefly, but the Highlanders kept responding on the other end. Hicks added a jumper, Cousin scored four straight points and a 3-pointer by Christian Lutete made it 58-44 just past the midway point of the half.
 
The Blue Hose got as close as 10, but Polite, Jr. answered a 3-pointer with one of his own and Cousin followed with another, giving Radford a 68-52 margin with under five minutes to play.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Radford shot 68 percent in the second half, hitting 15 of 22 attempts from the field, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, to finish at 51 percent for the game after the ice-cold start. The Highlanders connected on 8 of 16 from behind the arc overall.
  • Hicks was 5 of 9 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish one point shy of his career-high of 19 against Central Penn. He had six rebounds in the first half alone and the total of nine was one more than his previous best.
  • Cousin shot 5 of 10, including 4 of 6 in the second half, and 4 of 4 from the line, while Polite was 4 of 9 from the field and made 4 of his 6 free throws.
  • Tanner reached double figures for the fourth straight game, tallying 10 of his points in the first half.
  • Randy Phillips added eight rebounds (along with five points), including five on the offensive end, helping Radford to a 38-33 edge on the glass, outrebounding its opponent for the 12th time in 13 games and 13th overall.
  • Presbyterian, though, totaled 21 offensive rebounds and had a 29-11 advantage in second-chance points. The Blue Hose also outscored Radford 22-10 in points off of turnovers.
  • However, Radford's defense limited the home team to just 37 percent shooting, including just 4 of 13 on 3-pointers. The Highlanders totaled eight blocks in the game, led by four from Darius Bolstad.
  • Radford was also 20 of 26 as a team at the charity stripe, while Presbyterian had just nine attempts, making five.
  • Will Adams (21) and Jo'Vontae Miller (19) combined for 40 of the Blue Hose's 63 points.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "On the defensive end of the floor, we were engaged from start to finish. They only shoot 37 percent from the floor and you're going to have a chance to win every game when you hold teams to that kind of percentage. It's hard to maintain the intensity and attention to detail for 40 minutes straight through, and we lost it a little bit in the first half, but when we came out of the locker room, I thought it was right back and we made it tough for them to score all night long. Offensively in the second half, we knew we had squandered a little bit of lead, but our guys knew how to get it back. We talked about being patient and letting the offense work for you and we shared the basketball and got it where we wanted it and were able to knock down shots. It's hard to win on the road because everyone feels like they have to win at home. We just gave one away but we came back and get one on the road and that helps keep us right on pace with everybody.. " ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford makes the last of its three regular-season trips to South Carolina, playing at Charleston Southern Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
 
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