RADFORD, Va. – Heart and hustle were on display in spades as the Radford men's basketball team knocked off George Washington for an 86-76 victory on Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Highlanders defeated the Colonials for the first time in program history in wire-to-wire fashion, extending their winning streak to three games and improving to 6-3 overall this season. GW takes a tough road loss and moves to 5-3 on the year.
It is impossible to ignore the complete team effort that Head Coach
Darris Nichols' squad once again put on display in this game. Nine different Highlanders scored five or more points while seven of the 10 Highlanders that saw the floor recorded multiple rebounds and/or at least one assist.
At the top of the list was
Madiaw Niang, who had the best game of his collegiate career with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. He also added seven rebounds to match
DaQuan Smith for the team lead on the day.
Healthy and playing extremely hard in his minutes on the floor,
Bryan Antoine is making a major difference. Between diving for loose balls and playing supremely disruptive defense, the Tinton Falls, N.J. native posted a line of 13 points (5-9 FG, 3-6 3FG), four rebounds, two assists, and four steals.
Josiah Jeffers and
Kenyon Giles tallied 10 points each as well to supplement the hustlin' Highlanders scoring effort.
George Washington was paced by James Bishop IV all afternoon as the versatile scorer led all players with 26 points, thanks in large part to a 9-for-14 performance on the charity stripe.
KEY STATS
- The Colonials pulled down just 25 rebounds after coming into the contest averaging 37.9 per game.
- Radford won that battle with 39 rebounds of its own, including 11 on the offensive glass the led to 19 second-chance points
- The Highlanders dominated the paint, earning a 46-to-36 advantage in points around the basket
- Ball movement continued to be crisp as well, resulting in 18 assists on 32 made field goals (55.2%)
HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME
UP NEXT
The Highlanders visit an old rival this upcoming Saturday, Dec. 10 for a 1 p.m. game at VMI. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.
