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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Ed Polite Jr. Dunk
57
LIBERTY LIBERTY 12-7 (3-3 BSC)
59
Winner Radford RAD 12-7 (5-1 BSC)
LIBERTY LIBERTY
12-7 (3-3 BSC)
57
Final
59
Radford RAD
12-7 (5-1 BSC)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
LIBERTY LIBERTY 25 27 5 57
Radford RAD 18 34 7 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD DOWNS LIBERTY IN DRAMATIC OVERTIME VICTORY



GAME INFORMATION
  • Score: Radford 59, Liberty 57 (OT)
  • Records: Radford 12-7 (5-1 Big South) | 12-7 (3-3 Big South)
  • Location: Dedmon Center | Radford, Va.
 
RADFORD, Va. – After a 3-pointer from Liberty's Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz with four seconds to go in regulation forced overtime, the Radford men's basketball outlasted the Flames to earn a 59-57 win in a thriller at the Dedmon Center Monday night.
 
Leading 52-49 thanks to two clutch free throws from redshirt freshman Carlik Jones with 12 seconds to go in the game, the Highlanders returned to their man-to-man defense needing to shut down the Flames for just one more play. Pacheco-Ortiz had other plans as he came around a screen and rose up to drill a deep three.
 
Radford struck first in the extra period as senior center Randy Phillips hit his first shot of the night to put the Highlanders ahead. Two free throws by Pacheco-Ortiz and one from Isaiah Williams gave Liberty the lead back with 1:54 to go, but the Highlanders would answer.
 
A loose ball found its way to junior guard Caleb Tanner who delivered a perfect bounce pass to junior forward Ed Polite Jr. and he flushed it home with a dunk that sent the raucous home crowd into a tizzy with just over a minute to go.
 
A foul returned Jones to the line where he hit another two free throws with 30 seconds left and sophomore guard Donald Hicks hit 1-of-2 from the line with seven seconds on the clock to give Radford just enough to secure the victory.
 
With the win, Radford improves to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the Big South to retake sole possession of first place. The Flames drop to 12-7 and 3-3 in conference play.
 
The first half didn't quite go to plan for the Highlanders as they entered the locker room trailing 18-25. They came out strong, outscoring Liberty 13-6 across the first seven minutes, but then went cold.
 
A tough stretch from the field that saw Radford go without a single point from the 10:10 mark to the 55-second mark led to a 19-2 run for the visiting Flames.
 
Hicks found Jones in the corner for a huge three that finally halted the run and gave Radford some momentum heading into halftime.
 
Polite Jr. had another fantastic night, scoring 18 points on a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor. The Lanham, Md. native added two big steals while he and Phillips both pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
Jones bounced back from a tough outing at Gardner-Webb with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Radford moves to a perfect 6-0 at home this season
  • Monday marks the first game this season that the Highlanders have secured a win when scoring less than 60 points
  • After shooting only 31.8% (7-22) in the first half, Radford found its stroke and shot 54.5% (12-22) in the second stanza
  • Jones and Polite Jr. each played 40 minutes in the contest
  • Assists were even as Liberty recorded nine on 19 made baskets while Radford recorded nine on their 21 field goals
  • Sophomore guard Travis Fields Jr. had two blocks all season, but recorded two tonight including a huge come-from-behind block of Isaiah Williams with 1:10 to go in regulation
  • Tanner hit three 3-pointers on the night, his 15th game this season with multiple threes in a single game
 
QUOTABLE
"It's amazing that six games in a row against Liberty have gone just like this. Every game against them is like the movie Groundhog Day. We knew coming into this game it would be tough. They are coming off a tough loss so we knew they were going to be motivated. We had to be motivated because we had a tough loss last time out as well. I thought in the first half they really got to us. They were very physical and came away with a lot of 50/50 balls. They also rebounded the ball well against us. We knew we had to make an adjustment at halftime and I feel like our guys came out the second half more determined to get after it on the glass. Once we got back in the game on the glass we got back into the game on the scoreboard. It was a nice job of execution down the stretch to close it out and I'm proud of the way the guys finished the game." – Head Coach Mike Jones
 
AROUND THE BIG SOUTH
High Point 73, Presbyterian 49
Longwood 76, Campbell 62
UNC Asheville 83, Charleston Southern 73
Winthrop 90, Gardner-Webb 67
 
UP NEXT
  • The Highlanders will have another chance to play in front of their home crowd this Thursday when they host Longwood for a 7 p.m. contest
  • To purchase tickets, visit radfordtickets.com or call the ticket office at (540) 831-7889
 
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