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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Lewis
Darby Taylor
62
Radford Rad 0-1,0-0 Big South
77
Winner Virginia Tech Hokies 1-0,0-0 ACC
Radford Rad
0-1,0-0 Big South
62
Final
77
Virginia Tech Hokies
1-0,0-0 ACC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Radford Rad 31 31 62
Virginia Tech Hokies 37 40 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Freshmen Shine as Radford Falls to Virginia Tech in Season Opener

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team fell to Virginia Tech, 77-62, on Wednesday afternoon despite three freshmen combining for 20 points in their collegiate debuts.
 
True freshman Fah'Mir Ali earned his first collegiate start and made the most of it for the Highlanders (0-1) with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action. A pair of other freshmen, Keishon Porter and Xavier Lipscomb, chipped in five points each and combined for five rebounds and two assists.
 
Radford shot out of the gate through the first three minutes as Lewis Djonkam gave the Highlanders their first point of the 2020-21 season converting on the tail end of a pair of free throws.
 
Josiah Jeffers made his presence known with a steal at the 18:48 mark that led to Dravon Mangum's first points as a Highlander. He and Jeffers led the Highlanders with 12 points each, both tying career-highs. After another defensive stop, Chyree Walker put the Highlanders up 5-0 as he hit a jump shot from the left wing.
 
However, the Hokies (1-0) clawed back and erased Radford's largest lead of the game. The Highlanders had the lead for a total of just over 12 minutes of the first half. That lead went away as Virginia Tech scored nine straight at the two-minute mark of the first half.
 
Radford had a 27-26 edge but Justyn Mutts gave the Hokies the lead with a layup. A jumper, a three-pointer and two free throws later; Virginia Tech had a 35-27 lead and was ahead by six at the half, 37-31.
 
The hometown lead grew to 11 over the first three minutes of the second half after the Hokies used a 9-4 run. Ali hit a three-ball from the top of the key – his first as a Highlander and Walker converted on a pair of free throws. The mini burst cut the deficit to six points.
 
With the Highlanders still trailing by six and just under 10-minutes to play, Hunter Catoor hit a three-pointer that sparked a Hokie 14-3 run. The run put them ahead by 17 with 6:22 remaining. Despite the effort, the Highlanders could never cut it to less than a double-digit lead.
 
Stat of the Game
It's the first time in the Mike Jones era that the opening day lineup has not had one player that was in the previous year's starting lineup on opening day.
 
Inside the Box Score
Mangum and Jeffers led Radford with 12 points each, while Ali led all freshmen with 10. Jeffers went 2-for-5 from long range and went 5-for-11 from the floor. Walker led all players with seven rebounds, marking the most in his time at Radford. Shaquan Jules added five points, along with Porter and Lipscomb. The newcomers tallied 25 points and scored over half of Radford's points with the addition of Mangum, who sat out last season due to transfer rules. The Highlanders outrebounded the Hokies, 33-30, and the bench outscored VT, 18-14. The Hokies shot 48.3 percent from the field, while Radford only shot 39.6. The Hokies shot 57.7 percent in the second half, 16.5 percent higher than in the first half.
 
Tweet of the Game  
Quotable
"It's great just to get out here and be able to play basketball." Mike Jones said. "We've been practicing against each other since late June. We didn't have the benefit of having scrimmages this year, so this is our first game against somebody else. It's fun just to have to opportunity. I thought we played hard and gave them some good looks offensively and defensively. I was proud of the way our guys responded for having three freshmen and the majority of our team that doesn't have a lot of experience.  
 
Up Next
Radford will travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to take place in a round-robin bubble format tournament. The first game features Norfolk State on Saturday and the second is against host James Madison on Sunday. Both games are slated to start 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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