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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
carlik jones
60
Radford RAD 0-1,0-0 Big Sout
66
Winner Liberty LIB 1-0,0-0 ASUN
Radford RAD
0-1,0-0 Big Sout
60
Final
66
Liberty LIB
1-0,0-0 ASUN
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford RAD 19 41 60
Liberty LIB 33 33 66

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

CARLIK JONES’ CAREER NIGHT COMES UP SHORT IN SEASON OPENER

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Carlik Jones scored a career-high 31 points as he and the Highlanders outscored Liberty 41-33 in the second half but couldn't overcome a first half deficit in a 66-60 loss on Friday night at the Vines Center.
 
Jones gave Radford its first point of the 2019-20 season when he knocked down a free throw just 39 seconds into the game giving Radford a 1-0 lead. That was the only time the Highlanders led in the game. However, Radford did cut the lead to as low as four in the second half.
 
Just when it seemed the Flames had secured the victory with a nine-point lead and 30 seconds on the clock, Jones went coast-to-cast for an easy transition dunk. On the ensuing possession, Cle'von Greene stole a pass from Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz and found Jones wide open on the wing. The redshirt junior knocked down the open 3-pointer cutting the Liberty lead to four with 12 seconds to play. Jones was fouled on the shot and had a chance to cut the deficit to three but missed the free throw. Kyle Rode was fouled after grabbing the rebound and converted both free throws clinching the 66-60 victory.
 
It wasn't the first time Radford cut the Liberty lead to four in the second half. Once again, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native converted a free throw after getting fouled on a lay-in with 5:06 to play. That made it a 45-41 game until Myo Baxter-Bell made a layup and Rode pushed the lead to nine with a 3-pointer following a missed free throw.
 
The two four-point deficits were as low as the Highlanders could cut it. Radford shot 45 percent from the floor in the second half and came out of the locker room on a tear with an 11-6 run over the opening 4:30. Travis Fields, Jr., took over the next three and a half minutes with seven of his 15 points, which cut the deficit to five, 42-37, at the 10-minute mark.
 
Liberty put an end to the run and increased the lead to nine on three separate occasions and even pushed it to as high as 11 in the final 10 minutes of the half until Jones' five-point swing in the final minute of regulation.
 
The Highlanders showed a lot of fight in the second half as the Flames jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first half with 2:22 remaining. Radford closed out the half on a 6-0 run that included Quinton Morton-Robertson's first collegiate basket. The Highlanders shot 28 percent (6-for-22) from the field in the first half and went 1-for-6 from beyond the arc.
 
STAT OF THE MATCH
Jones and Fields Jr., had 46 of the Highlanders 60 points – highlighted by Jones' 31 on 10-of-20 shooting. He shot 2-of-5 from 3-point range and went 9-for-14 from the charity stripe.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Liberty bench outscored the Highlanders, 29-7 as Morton-Robertson and Greene were the only two subs that scored for Radford. Jones and Donald Hicks were tied for a game-high six rebounds. The ASun Preseason Player of the Year, Caleb Homesley, led the Flames with 18 points in 30 minutes of play. True freshman Kyle Rode added 12 for the Flames. Miles Jones, another local product, played in his first collegiate game.
 
TWEET OF THE GAME  
QUOTABLE
"Obviously the first half was very uncharacteristic of us," Mike Jones said. "There was not a lot of production on the offensive end and defensively it felt like they scored every time but they only put up 33 when it felt like 53. Our guys have heart and they locked in to the things we were talking about in the second half and we were able to make a game out of it."
 
UP NEXT
Radford will return to the New River Valley and prepare for its home opener against Bridgewater College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
 
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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