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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Ed Polite Jr. vs. UNCG
Tim Cowie - Tim Cowie Photograph
58
Radford RAD 6-5
65
Winner UNC Greensboro UNCG 11-2
Radford RAD
6-5
58
Final
65
UNC Greensboro UNCG
11-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 25 33 58
UNC Greensboro UNCG 34 31 65

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

RADFORD FALLS IN HEARTBREAKER AT UNCG


 
RADFORD, Va. – Cold shooting down the stretch doomed the Radford men's basketball team as it fell in a heartbreaking 65-58 loss to UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday night.
 
With 7:49 left to play in the contest, redshirt sophomore guard Carlik Jones drove past the defense and made a wide open layup to give the Highlanders a 50-49 lead. Following that shot, Radford went 2-for-14 as a team and was outscored 16-8 over the final 7:48 of the game.
 
The Highlanders move to 6-5 on the season while the Spartans improve to 11-2. They entered the game as one of only 12 teams in the nation with double-digit wins and have now won 16 straight games at home dating back more than a full calendar year.
 
Senior forward Ed Polite Jr. contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and 32nd of his career. Going 5-for-6 from the free throw line, he was the only Highlander to shoot a free throw in the entire game.
 
Jones stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Junior guard Travis Fields Jr. connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points as well.
 
The Highlanders and Spartans looked evenly matched in nearly every facet of the game throughout the first half, exchanging the lead 13 times and landing on a tie four times.
 
Graduate center Mawdo Sallah set the tone early, scoring six of Radford's first eight points and pulling down a pair of rebounds in the first four minutes. Senior guard Caleb Tanner got going early too, making his first two 3-point attempts to make it 14-12 at the 13:29 mark.

After beginning the game 10-for-20 (50%) as a team, the Highlanders all of a sudden went cold midway through the period and UNCG took advantage. The Spartans transformed a 23-21 Radford lead into a 34-25 UNCG lead heading into halftime thanks to an 8-0 run to finish out the first half.
 
Whatever was said in the locker room at halftime worked. The Highlanders began the second half on fire and had erased the deficit in just five minutes. They had outscored UNCG 14-4 by the 14:46 mark and 21-8 by the time 11:23 scrolled across the clock.
 
The lead only grew to a game-high of four though, and the late cold stretch was enough to let the Spartans back into the game.
 
UNCG came into the game averaging 80.6 points per game, but a smart game plan and a strong performance from the Radford defense kept them well below that. Francis Alonso was averaging nearly 19 points per game this season, but the Highlanders held him to 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting including a poor 3-for-12 clip from beyond the arc.
 
PLAY OF THE GAME  
TANNER'S 3-POINTERS STREAK
Tanner drilled his first two 3-point attempts on Tuesday night and finished the game with three total. He has now made at least one 3-pointer in 13 straight games dating back to March 13, 2018 against LIU Brooklyn in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Floyd, Va. native also moved up in the record books and now ranks ninth in school history for career 3-point field goals made with 180. He passed Kenny Thomas (2005-09) who hit 178 shots from beyond the arc in his time as a Highlander.
 
MINUTE MILESTONES
Several players reached career milestones for minutes played in Tuesday night's game. Junior guard Donald Hicks surpassed 2,000 minutes played and Fields Jr. passed 1,000 minutes played. For comparison, Polite Jr. played his 3,000th career minute and Tanner reached 1,500 minutes earlier this season.
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders return to the Dedmon Center for the first time in nearly a month on Friday, Dec. 21 to take on Georgia Southern at 6 pm. Game time was originally set for 7 pm, but has been moved forward one hour. Tickets can be purchased on RadfordTickets.com or by calling the Radford Ticket Office at (540) 831-7889 during business hours.
 
FOLLOW RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
To follow the Radford men's basketball team, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordMBB on Twitter, 'radfordmbb' on Instagram or Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook.
 
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