Antoine's Heroics Lift Radford Over USC Upstate For Seventh Straight Win

Wednesday, January 4

Radford, Va.

7:00 PM

Radford University

7-9,1-2Big South

USC Upstate

7-7,2-1Big South

Team	1	2	F
USC Upstate	31	34	65
Radford	30	30	60

Photo by: Rob Simmons

Antoine's Heroics Lift Radford Over USC Upstate For Seventh Straight Win

1/28/2023 4:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – With the clock ticking down and a hand in his face, Bryan Antoine capped a career day with the game-winning three that lifted the Radford men's basketball team to a 55-52 victory over USC Upstate inside the G.B. Hodge Center on Saturday afternoon.

After a lengthy delay that featured two timeouts and a trip to the monitor, the Spartans (9-12, 4-6 Big South) ran the perfect play to tie the game at 52-all, leaving just 31.2 seconds left in regulation.

Fifth-year guard Josiah Jeffers directed his teammates as he dribbled the ball just inside the halfcourt line. Antoine came around a screen by Justin Archer and fired an off-balance jumper from the top of the key that rattled home. USC Upstate raced down the court with 3.0 seconds to go but a last-ditch effort came up short.

The win makes it seven straight victories for Radford, improving the team's record to 14-9 overall and 8-2 in Big South play.

It was an ugly game from start to finish with Bryan Antoine's career-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a career-best 5-of-7 from three, shining through.

While the Highlanders and Spartans combined to make 37 field goals across 40 minutes of action, they also combined for 36 turnovers and were whistled for 44 fouls. Six different Radford players finished the game with three fouls while Upstate's Trae Broadnax fouled out, and five others were whistled for multiple fouls as well.

Radford did a good job of converting some of those foul calls into points as the visitors went 15-for-21 (71.4%) from the free throw line. On the other end, the Spartans went 7-for-12 (58.3%) at the charity stripe.

The Highlanders took a 10-point, 27-17, lead into halftime but the Spartans found an answer after the break and took their first lead, 35-34, with 11:45 to go.

The two sides battled the best they could between all of the stoppages, going back-and-forth to force the deciding possession that resulted in Antoine's heroics.

KEY STATS

Justin Archer also finished in double figures, contributing 10 points and four rebouds in just 18 minutes
Mysta Goodloe led the Spartans with 12 points while Jordan Gainey added 10 points despite going 4-for-16 from the floor and 0-for-6 from three
Radford found a way to win even when being outshot 40.8%-to-37.0% and being out-rebounded as well
Upstate earned a 34-to-29 advantage on the boards with three different players grabbing five or more rebounds
Josiah Jeffers got the start at point guard for the second straight game and put up four assists both times

HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME

?? The deciding bucket ??#RiseAndDefend?? x #BigSouthMBB pic.twitter.com/sfqS49vXMo
— Radford Men's Basketball (@RadfordHoops) January 28, 2023

AROUND THE BIG SOUTH
Gardner-Webb 86, High Point 58
Winthrop 76, Presbyterian 58
UNC Asheville 78, Campbell 65

UP NEXT
With a well-deserved four games of rest in between, the Highlanders will head to Clinton, S.C. to face off against the Presbyterian Blue Hose. The game is slated for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 and 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.