Radford Grabs Late Lead, Hangs On to Beat Presbyterian

Wednesday, December 30

Clinton, S.C.

5 p.m.

Radford University

4-5,3-0Big South

Presbyterian

2-3,0-1Big South

Team	1	2	F
Radford	32	39	71
Presbyterian	36	29	65

Radford Grabs Late Lead, Hangs On to Beat Presbyterian

12/30/2020 8:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CLINTON, S.C. – The Radford men's basketball team regained the lead late in the second half and hung on for a 71-65 win over Presbyterian on Wednesday night inside the Templeton Center.

Radford took its first lead since the 14:07 mark of the first half when Chyree Walker put the Highlanders ahead, 59-58, via a layup with 6:21 to play in the second half. After three lead changes over the next five and a half minutes, Lewis Djonkam gave Radford the go-ahead bucket on a nice pick and roll play with 53 seconds left on the clock. The Springfield, Va., native was fouled on the play and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play that put Radford ahead, 68-65.

Tough defense by the Highlanders forced the Blue Hose go to scoreless over the final 2:25 seconds and Radford closed out the game on an 8-0 run. The run included a game-tying field goal by Walker and the go-ahead field goal by Djonkam. Djonkam's final field goal ended his night with a perfect 7-of-7 from floor. He tied a career-high 16 points, but it's the most for him against a Division I opponent. The redshirt-junior also had seven rebounds.

He was slightly topped in the points column by Quinton Morton-Robertson, who chipped in a career-best 18 points. He went 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-5 from long range. It was his fourth game with three 3-pointers.

Presbyterian shot 62.5 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and looked to have a seven-point advantage going into the locker room. Josiah Jeffers had other plans. He knocked down a 3-pointer as the clock expired and made it a 36-32 game in PC's favor. It was Jeffers' only points of the night.

The Blue Hose came out and pushed their lead to nine multiple times, but the last came at the 10:21 mark. It was Presbyterian's largest lead of the game at 58-49. Over the next two and a half minutes Djonkam, Walker and Morton-Robertson tallied layups and made it a 55-58 game. The 6-0 run eventually grew to 10-0 and gave Radford the lead once again with 6:21 to play.

Radford had a 22-7 run over the final 10:21 of the game. Presbyterian made one of their last 11 field goals to close out the contest.

Stat of the Game
Radford held the Blue Hose to 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-12) in the second half after PC shot 62.5 (5-of-8) in the first.

Inside the Box Score
Radford had four players in double-figures as Dravon Mangum had a quiet 11 points and four rebounds. Djonkam, Morton-Robertson and Walker (10) each scored in double-figures. Radford had 31 rebounds with 19 of them coming in the second half. The Highlanders also scored 42 of the 71 points inside the paint. The Blue Hose only scored 14 in the paint. It's the first time that the Highlanders have come out on top after an opponent has won the turnover battle – PC had 10, Radford committed 17.

Tweet of the Game

2H | :53 • Radford 68, Presbyterian 65

The Highlanders are back on top after a back-and-forth affair over the last 7 minutes! Djonkam converts the old-fashioned 3-point play and the Highlanders are up by 3.#RiseAndDefend x #HUNT pic.twitter.com/N2K1GPi0Ix
— Radford Men's Basketball (@RadfordMBB) December 30, 2020

Quotable
"What a great college basketball game," Mike Jones said. "Presbyterian didn't lose the game; we just went and took it at the end there. I was really proud of our guys fight and execution late in the second half. Down the stretch we played rock solid Radford defense and that helped carry us to a win in the end."

Up Next
Radford will wrap up the season series with Presbyterian on Thursday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 3 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.