RADFORD OUSTS LIBERTY 56-52 TO REACH BIG SOUTH SEMIFINALS

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Box Score (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION

Score: No. 6 Radford 56, No. 3 Liberty 52
Records: Radford (14-17) | Liberty (19-13)
Location: Winthrop Coliseum | Rock Hill, S.C.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Another game down to the wire against Liberty and another close one for Radford in the Big South Tournament, but this time the Highlanders were on the winning end on both counts, as they fought off a Flames' rally with key plays down the stretch to earn a 56-52 quarterfinal win Thursday afternoon.

After losing its last four tournament games by a combined six points, the Highlanders found a way to pull this one out and advanced to the semifinal round for the first time since 2010. Sixth-seeded Radford will face No. 7 seed Campbell in Friday 6 p.m. semifinal at the Winthrop Coliseum, with the victor moving to play for the conference title and an NCAA berth.

Ed Polite, Jr. scored a team-high 14 points, while Christian Bradford tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Justin Cousin added 10 points for the Highlanders.

Polite, Jr. and Bradford, in particular, along with Donald Hicks, made huge plays late to help counter a comeback bid from Liberty after Radford had led nearly the entire way thanks to a 60-percent shooting first half. The Highlanders' edge was 10 at 42-32 with 12:31 left before the Flames went on a 9-0 run to get within one. The teams then combined to go scoreless for nearly four minutes before a three-point play by Hicks on a drive into the lane broke the drought and made it 45-41.

Liberty, though, scored eight of the next 10 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Lovell Cabill and John Dawson that put the Flames up 49-47 with 1:50 to go – their first lead since it was 3-2. However, Polite, Jr. immediately answered by scoring in traffic in the lane to tie it back up. He was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but Hicks got the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made one of two to put Radford back ahead 50-49 with 1:23 to play.

Bradford then grabbed a big defensive rebound on the other end, was fouled and would proceed to make six straight free throws in the final 36 seconds to ice the victory. In between them, he also saved a ball from going out of bounds near the sideline, allowing Radford to call timeout after having trouble inbounding with a 52-50 lead. He made two more with 20 seconds on the clock and the final two with four seconds left.

Radford used a combination of inside-outside play to control the first half. The Highlanders used a 9-0 run for a 13-5 lead just over nine minutes in, with 10 of the points coming in the paint by four different players. While Liberty started out an ice cold 2 for 18 from the field, the Highlanders then heated up outside the arc, hitting 5 of its last 6 3-pointers of the first half. Cousin and Caleb Tanner each had two, with the latter's second one giving Radford its biggest advantage at 22-9 advantage with 6:58 left in the half. Myo Baxter-Bell provided offense for the Flames, scoring 10 of his team's first 18 points, but Bradford added the Highlanders' last 3-pointer to make it 29-19 and it was an eight-point margin at the break.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Radford's shooting dropped off in the second half, but it still shot 47.5 percent from the field in the game, after making just a combined 37 percent over the first two meetings.
Of the Highlanders first 42 points, 34 of them either came in the paint or on the team's six 3-pointers.
Radford finished with 22 points in the paint, while holding a 32-26 rebounding advantage and making 12 of 15 free-throw attempts.
Randy Phillips shared team-high honors with seven rebounds, while Hicks added five.
The Highlanders limited Liberty to 30 percent shooting in the first half and 36 percent for the game, improving to 7-1 this season when holding teams under 40 percent.
Polite, Jr. was 6 of 11 from the field to reach double figures for the ninth straight game, while grabbing four rebounds, his lowest total in any game this season.
Cousin and Tanner were a combined 5 of 11 on 3-pointers all in the opening 20 minutes. Tanner made his first three treys and finished with nine points.
Baxter-Bell tallied a game-high 18 points, while Cabbil added 12 and Dawson 9. However, leading scorer Ryan Kemrite tallied just three points on 1 of 8 before fouling out.
It was the fifth straight meeting between the teams that came down to the final minute of regulation or went to overtime.
Mike Jones earned his second tournament victory as head coach, and it was the Highlanders' second tournament win since a quarterfinal decision over Charleston Southern in the 2010 tourney. Radford then lost its next game to Winthrop in its last semifinal appearance.
The Highlanders will look to advanced to the championship game for the first time since winning the title in 2009.

QUOTABLE

"That was a great win. Our guys just stayed the course. It was just like the other two games, pretty much back and forth down the stretch and somebody had to win. Fortunately we won the one that counted here in the tourney. I'm really happy for our guys. They did a tremendous job of staying even keeled whether it was when things were going good in the first half or bad in the second half. We gave up the lead briefly, but we stayed the course and just made one or two more plays than they did. We just made some extremely tough plays down the stretch. It doesn't come down to X's and O's, it comes down to who wants it more and can make the plays. Ed made an incredible shot, Christian makes the free throws and we got stops on the other end so it was a complete team effort." ~ Radford head coach Mike Jones

UP NEXT

Radford will look to avenge a regular-season sweep for the second straight day when it faces Campbell Friday.
The Fighting Camels upset No. 2 seed UNC Asheville Thursday, behind a tournament-record 51 points by Chris Clemons.
Campbell won the first meeting 78-61 and the rematch last weekend, 61-58 in Buies Creek.

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