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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Ed Polite, Jr.
Bennett Scarborough
58
Radford RAD 13-17, 8-10 BSC
61
Winner Campbell CAMPBELL 14-16, 7-11 BSC
Radford RAD
13-17, 8-10 BSC
58
Final
61
Campbell CAMPBELL
14-16, 7-11 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 26 32 58
Campbell CAMPBELL 31 30 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

POLITE, JR. SURPASSES 500 REBOUNDS WITH 19 IN 61-58 LOSS



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Campbell 61, Radford 58
  • Records: Radford (13-17, 8-10) | Campbell (14-16, 7-11)
  • Location: Gore Arena | Buies Creek, N.C.
 
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Ed Polite, Jr. achieved a milestone and set a career-high, both in the rebound department, but Radford dropped in a 61-58 decision at Campbell Saturday afternoon in a back and forth regular-season finale.
 
Polite, Jr. grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in the game and his ninth one – coming with 3:28 left in the first half – gave him 500 for his career, becoming the first Highlander in program history to reach that number during his sophomore season. He added 11 points to notch his 14th double-double of the year.
 
Justin Cousin scored a team-high 15 points, while Donald Hicks again reached double figures with 10 points, Radford settled for a sixth-place finish in the Big South and the No. 6 seed in next week's conference tournament.
 
The Highlanders got off to a good start with Randy Phillips and Donald Hicks combining for 10 points and a jumper by Justin Cousin gave Radford a 12-6 edge less than five minutes in. However, after a 2 for 9 start, Campbell hit six of its next seven shots, including three 3-pointers, during a 16-4 run for a 22-16 lead. Phillips and Hicks countered with five points, but the Fighting Camels scored the next nine to push the margin to double digits. The Highlanders responded with the next five on a putback by Devonnte Holland and Hicks' second 3-pointer of the half to make it 31-26 at the break.
 
The seesaw swings continued early in the second half as Radford tied it up on back-to-back 3's by Cousin, Campbell regained an eight-point lead thanks to eight straight points from Chris Clemons and the Highlanders came back to take a 46-44 lead with an 8-0 capped by a Tanner 3-pointer.
 
However, Radford went scoreless over the next six minutes missing eight straight shots before Cousin ended the drought with a 3-pointer that made it 51-49 Campbell with 5:16 to play. Christian Bradford drained another trey with 3:05 left to make it one-point game and the Highlanders had a couple possessions with a chance to take the lead late, but were unable to convert.
 
A Clemons layup made it 59-56 with just over a minute left before Polite, Jr. drove for a layup to cut it back to one with 5.5 seconds left. Radford quickly fouled, letting just .2 go off the clock and Clemons made both ends of a 1-and-1. The Highlanders then rushed up the court and Bradford got an off-balance 3-point attempt from just behind the arc, but it was off the mark.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Polite, Jr. is the 17th Highlander overall to record 500 rebounds and he did so in his 60th career game. All-time leader Javante Green reached the mark in his 68th game.
  • The 19 rebounds (14 defensive) in the game surpassed his previous best of 16 earlier this year against Stetson. It was his fourth outing this season with 15 or more and 15th contest with at least 10.
  • Cousin was 6 for 14 from the field, including 3 of 9 on 3-pointers, his 10th conference game with at least three treys.
  • However, Radford was just 7 for 24 from beyond the arc in the game, finishing at 38 percent from the floor overall.
  • Campbell also shot 38 percent, including 6 of 18 on 3's, but made 13 of 17 free throws, compared to just 7 of 8 for the Highlanders.
  • Radford held a 40-33 advantage on the class, outrebounding its opponent for the 24th time in 30 regular-season games.
  • Randy Phillips added eight points and six rebounds, with all of the points and four of the rebounds coming in the first half.
  • Clemons led Campbell with 16 points, but he was seven below his average, shooting just 6 for 22.
  • Kyre' Hamer added 12 points, while Cory Gensler chipped in 12 off the bench, hitting four 3-pointers.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "I loved the way we played today. I know we didn't get the outcome that we wanted, but I loved the intensity level and the effort for the whole game that we gave. We pushed the ball up and Christian got a good look. Unfortunately, it didn't go down, but that doesn't diminish from what the guys did during the 40 minutes. It was a fun basketball game until the outcome. We just have to build on this as we go into the tournament. Right from the beginning you could see that Ed wanted rebounds. He about stole three of them from our own guys. We try to challenge him to play as hard as he can every game and if he does that, there's no telling what he can do. He's the type of guy that could average 12 or 13 rebounds per game. Great effort by him and our team. " ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
UP NEXT
  • Sixth-seeded Radford will play No. 3 seed Liberty in a Big South Tournament quarterfinal game Thursday at 3 p.m.
  • Winthrop tied for the regular-season conference title with UNC Asheville and will host the quarterfinal and semifinal games.
  • For complete tournament pairings, click HERE.
 
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