Men's Basketball 2/28/2020 4:40:00 PM

RADFORD HOSTS GARDNER-WEBB FOR REGULAR SEASON FINALE

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team clinched a share of the Big South Regular Season Championship on Thursday and will look to win it outright as they host Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Radford (20-9, 15-2 Big South) survived a late run from Hampton on Thursday night in an 81-78 victory. The win gave the Highlanders back-to-back regular season titles for the first time since the 1999-00, 2000-01 seasons. It also gave Radford its third consecutive 20-win season – the most in program history.

One of the most noteworthy feats was the senior class becoming the all-time winningest class in program history. The win against Hampton gave the class 79 over a four-year span, which topped the 1993-94 class who had 78 wins. On Saturday the 2019-20 seniors will be honored prior to tip-off.

Donald Hicks and Devonnte Holland are the only two seniors that played at Radford for a full four-year span. Hicks has started 123 games in his career at Radford, which is the second most games started at Radford. Hicks became the 33^rdplayer in program history to do reach the 1,000 point threshold and has 1,014 total points. Holland made his 122^nd career appearance on Thursday, which cracked the career top-10 list at Radford.

Other seniors in Travis Fields, Jr., Devin Hutchinson and Devine Eke have been integral parts of the wins as transfers. Fields Jr., has been a Highlander for three years. He's connected on 145 3-pointers and is shooting 39.6 percent behind the arc, which ranks inside the programs top 10. Hutchinson, a junior college transfer, has scored 272 total points in his two years at Radford. The grad transfer, Eke, has helped Radford to a 10-1 record since he's been in the starting lineup and ranks third in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per outing.

All five seniors that will be honored on Saturday scored at least one field goal and combined for 56 of the team's 81 points against Hampton. Senior Day festivities are slated to begin approximately 30 minutes prior to tip-off.

Gardner-Webb (14-15, 10-7) has won six of its last seven games, including three straight. The margin of victory for the Runnin' Bulldogs three most recent wins have been an average of 11.6 points. GWU locked down third place in the Big South standings with a win over Charleston Southern on Thursday night.

Eric Jamison Jr., leads the team with 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. He's one of three players for the Runnin' Bulldogs that average double-digit scoring. Nate Johnson is not far behind with 13.4 points and Jaheem Cornwall sits at 12.4. The trio of players are also averaging more than 30 minutes per contest.

Gardner-Webb is fourth in scoring offense and defense in the Big South. The team is averaging 72.8 points per game, while allowing 71.4. The Runnin' Bulldogs rank seventh in field goal percentage (44.6) but sit atop the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (36.0). The Highlanders are not too far behind at 35.9 percent from long range.

Radford trails the all-time series with Gardner-Webb by one game, 12-11. Gardner-Webb holds a slight advantage of games being played inside the Dedmon Center, 6-5. This is the first meeting of the two teams inside the Dedmon Center since the Big South Championship last season. The Highlanders won the meeting earlier this year in Boiling Springs as the team outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs by nine points in the second half to claim a three-point victory.

Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN+. The game can also be heard live online through Stretch Internet or radio outlets, WRAD 101.7 FM and WVRU 89.9 FM.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Travis Fields, Jr.: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#5 Donald Hicks: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#15 Devonnte Holland: C; 6' 7"; Senior

#0 Devin Hutchinson: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#30 Devine Eke: F; 6' 8"; Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

#11 Travis Fields, Jr.
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#5 Donald Hicks
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#15 Devonnte Holland
: 6' 7"; Senior
: C

#0 Devin Hutchinson
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#30 Devine Eke
: 6' 8"; Graduate Student
: F