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67
Charleston So. CSU 8-16, 4-9 BSC
79
Winner Radford RAD 10-15, 5-8 BSC
Charleston So. CSU
8-16, 4-9 BSC
67
Final
79
Radford RAD
10-15, 5-8 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Charleston So. CSU 28 39 67
Radford RAD 48 31 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD ROLLS TO WIN OVER CSU BEHIND FIRST-HALF EXPLOSION



Box Score (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 79, Charleston Southern 67
  • Records: Radford (10-15, 5-8) | Charleston Southern (8-16, 4-9)
  • Location: Dedmon Center | Radford, Va.
 
RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team broke out in a big way Thursday night, putting together a first-half onslaught that paved the way to a 79-67 victory over Charleston Southern and an end to its five-game losing streaks both overall and in the Dedmon Center.
 
The Highlanders made 9 of 13 3-pointers and shot 56 percent overall in the opening 20 minutes, building a commanding 20-point lead en route to its first home win in 2017.
 
Justin Cousin led the way, going a perfect 5 for 5 from behind the arc himself and scoring all 17 of his points in the first half. Caleb Tanner added four 3-pointers and 14 points in the game, while Ed Polite, Jr. filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Donald Hicks gave Radford four players in double figures with 11 points.
 
In sharp contrast to most of its recent home setbacks, Radford came out hot to start the game as Cousin and Hicks hit 3-pointers on the first two possessions. The Highlanders went on to make 7 of their first 11 attempts from the field, including 4 of 5 beyond the arc to open up an 18-6 edge less than seven minutes in. Cousin and Hicks each had two of the treys and Cousin tallied eight of the points.
 
Several minutes later, Cousin added two more 3's and Christian Bradford chipped in another during a 13-5 spurt that pushed the advantage up to 36-17 with 6:25 left in the half as the Highlanders made 7 of their first 10 long-range shots. Radford then doubled up Charleston Southern on the scoreboard at 40-20 on a dunk by Polite, Jr., before Tanner hit his first 3-pointer and Cousin drained his last on back-to-back possessions late in the half that made it 48-26.
 
The 3-point barrage continued early in the second half as Tanner made two more and Bradford one in the first four minutes, giving the Highlanders their biggest lead of the game at 60-33. Radford started to cool off after that and the Buccaneers used a 20-4 run to get within 11 points with over nine minutes to play. However, the Highlanders didn't let the lead slip under double figures as Polite, Jr. responded on the ensuing possession with a thunderous dunk and old fashioned three-point that started a quick 8-0 spurt to put the game out of reach. Tanner followed with a 3-pointer and Hicks' jumper made it 72-53.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Radford posted season-high shooting percentages of 52 percent from the field and 54 percent from behind the arc, while its 14 3-pointers (on 26 attempts) were second only to the 16 in the road win at Winthrop.
  • The Highlanders' 48 first-half points equaled a season-best for any half, matching the first-half number against Central Penn. RU had averaged just 22 first-half points during its last five home games.
  • Cousin finished 6 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from long distance, while Tanner was 4 of 9, all on 3-point attempts.
  • Hicks made 4 of 9 shots and 3 of 6 treys, while grabbing five rebounds and recording his first two career blocks.
  • Bradford chipped in eight points, including 2 of 3 3-pointers, while tying a career-high with seven assists and also grabbed five rebounds.
  • As a team, the Highlanders recorded 18 assists on 29 made field goals.
  • Darius Bolstad added nine points on 4 of 6 shooting and five rebounds in 15 minutes.
  • Radford had a 35-33 rebounding edge and a 25-12 advantage in bench points.
  • CSU freshman Christian Keeling led his team with 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting, but was limited to 14 fewer points than the teams' first meeting.
  • The Buccaneers shot 39 percent in the first half and 43 percent for the game, including 4 of 13 3-pointers.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "The game certainly is a lot easier when shots go in. We've certainly had a slow starts over the last couple of weeks, but I told the guys in the locker room that I thought we'd still win the game if those shots didn't go in because we set the tone defensively right from the beginning. As one of our coaches said, the reason why we won today was not because of how we played today, but because of how we've practiced the last week since the Winthrop game and we've got to continue to be consistent with that throughout the rest of the season. Offensively, right from the beginning we were pretty bold and being bold is one of my favorite words because you're not sitting back and afraid to make passes, take shots or make plays. When you play bold, you play with confidence and that tends to work out for you a lot of times. I didn't realize the lead was as big as it was in the first half, but we kept getting stops and then we'd make shots and it just continued to grow and everybody that came in was contributing to the team concept of sharing the basketball. " ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford heads out on the road for its next two games, starting with a Saturday night contest at High Point. Tipoff inside the Millis Center is set for 7 p.m.
 
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