RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team gave its home crowd plenty to cheer for in the 2022-23 home opener, defeating Bridgewater College, 97-46, on Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center on Monday night.
It's the Highlanders first victory of the young season, bringing their tally to 1-2 overall. Radford also improves to 42-6 all-time in regular season home openers.
The Eagles just up the road played hard all night and gave Radford fits at times, including the first 10 minutes of action. The Highlanders led by just seven – 22-15 – with 10:37 on the clock in the first half.
After a media timeout gave the home team a chance to make some adjustments, the Highlanders went on a 23-5 run, including the final nine points of the half, to go into the halftime break with a 45-20 lead.
Both teams emptied their benches in the second half, but it didn't affect the outcome as Radford outscored Bridgewater, 52-26, over the final 20 minutes of play.
Junior guard
Bryan Antoine had his best game as a Highlander, shooting 5-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-5 at the free throw line to score 16 points. Senior forward
Shaquan Jules joined him with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting while securing his second double-double of the season thanks to 10 points.
Onyebuchi Ezeakudo caught fire from deep, going 4-for-5 from downtown to end the night with a season-high 15 points.
Josiah Jeffers was his top connection and the fifth-year senior dished out five assists to lead the squad.
Freshman phenom
Kenyon Giles had a slow night offensively for his standards, scoring 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, but was all over the place on defense and jumped passing routes for five steals.
KEY STATS
- Radford dominated the glass, earning a 41-24 advantage in rebounds
- A whopping 17 of those rebounds were on the offensive end, leading to 23 second-chance points for the Highlanders
- Radford outscored the Eagles 30-12 in points from turnovers and 28-24 on points in the paint
- All 11 Highlanders who saw the floor scored at least two points
HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME
REIGNING FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Kenyon Giles was named Big South Freshman of the Week just two hours prior to tip on Monday night, rewarding him for a spectacular collegiate debut. The Chesapeake, Va. native averaged 17.5 points on 53.8% shooting from the field and 41.7% from three at Marquette and Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
Radford plays the second game in back-to-back home games on Wednesday night when Averett comes to Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center for a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and tickets are available at radfordtickets.com.
FOLLOW RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
To follow the Radford men's basketball team throughout the season, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordHoops on Twitter, 'radfordhoops' Instagram or Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook.
