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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
fields jr
61
Radford RAD 2-3
70
Winner Bradley BRAD 4-1
Radford RAD
2-3
61
Final
70
Bradley BRAD
4-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 27 34 61
Bradley BRAD 37 33 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

STRONG SECOND HALF EFFORT FALLS SHORT AT BRADLEY

PEORIA, Ill. – A strong second half effort came up just short as the Radford men's basketball team fell to Bradley, 70-61, on Friday night at Carver Arena inside the Peoria Civic Center.
 
Down by 15 with 8:43 to play, the Highlanders (2-3) found a spark offensively to get themselves back in the game. That spark came from two bench players in Cle'von Greene and Devine Eke, who had 13 of the team's 14 in a 14-3 run over 5:39. The run ended with an Eke tip-in that cut it to a five-point game, 59-64 with 3:04 to play.
 
As soon as the Highlanders played their way back into it, Darrell Brown hit a deep 3-pointer that put Bradley (4-1) up by eight with under two minutes to play in regulation. Carlik Jones went end-to-end and laid it in just 18 seconds later to make it a two-possession game.
 
Brown missed a jumper on the other end but the Braves recorded the offensive rebound, their 16th of the night. It didn't matter as Bradley's Nate Kennell had a rare miss. Jones ended up with the board and was fouled. With the Highlanders in the double bonus, Jones had a chance to cut the lead to four points with less than a minute to play. Just as rare as a Kennell missed jumper was on Friday night, the Cincinnati, Ohio missed both free throws – a rare sight for Highlander fans.
 
Radford had to foul with less than 40 seconds remaining and Brown made both free throws making it a 69-61 game. Travis Fields, Jr., missed a 3-pointer that would've cut the deficit to five points and Brown was fouled once more, this time with 22 seconds on the clock. He made one-of-two to create a three-possession game that the Highlander's couldn't overcome.  
 
Trailing by 10 at the end of the first half, the Highlanders scored the first four points of the second half and cut the deficit to six within the first minute. Bradley came back with four points of its own to make it a double-digit lead once again. Then Fields Jr., converted the old fashioned 3-point play with 16:50 remaining and made it a 41-34 contest.
 
Kennell hit back-to-back 3-pointers that sparked an 18-8 run and gave Bradley its biggest lead of the night (17) with 9:41 to play until Radford's 'Never Say Die' attitude came to life. Kennell led all players with 20 points and went 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from the floor, including a 4-for-6 (66.7 percent) mark from beyond the arc.
 
The Highlanders and Braves didn't shoot too far apart from each other in the first half. Bradley led with 48.1 percent shooting, while Radford tallied 47.8. The only discrepancy shooting the ball came from the 3-point line. The Highlanders only shot 12.5 percent (1-for-8) in the first half, while Bradley shot 30.8 percent (4-for-13). Radford was also outrebounded by Bradley, 19-10, in the first half. That trend continued throughout the game as Radford lost its first rebounding battle of the season, 38-25.

Radford had eight different players score in Friday's contest. All eight players had at least one point by the end of the first half.
 
STAT OF THE GAME
Despite losing the rebound battle, the Highlanders won the turnover battle (17-14) and outscored Bradley's bench 30-18. Eke and Greene totaled with 24 of the 30 bench points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Greene led the Highlanders in scoring with a career-high 15 points against Bradley. He shot 6-of-10 from the field and led the team with two 3-pointers. As a team, Radford only made four 3-pointers all night – the lowest amount so far on the young season. Eke continued to be a monster on the glass with a team-high seven rebounds and contributed nine points. Bradley's Elijah Childs and Koch Bar had 23 of the team's 38 rebounds.
 
TWEET OF THE GAME  
QUOTABLE
"We have to stop digging holes for ourselves," Mike Jones said. "I told them in the locker room that it's a great feeling as a coach to know that you team has fight. Because then you know, no matter what happens; where you play or who you play it doesn't matter because your team is going to fight until the end. I've seen it in all of our games this year, I saw it this summer and that's a good thing to have as a coach."
 
UP NEXT
Radford ends its four-game road swing with a trip to West Long Branch, N.J., for a game with Monmouth on Tuesday. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m., ET.
 
FOLLOW RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
To follow the Radford men's basketball team, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordMBB on Twitter, 'radfordmbb' Instagram or Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook.
 
 
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