RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball program has kept its historic start to the season rolling as the Highlanders collected their fifth straight win in a 74-70 overtime thriller over Bucknell inside the Dedmon Center on Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, Radford has officially matched the 1988-1999 squad at 9-2 for the best start to a season in 36 years. Another win and the Highlanders will match the 1981-82 group that start their campaign off 10-2 overall over 43 years ago.
The game against the Bison was once again about throwing and absorbing punches as the Highlanders took a slight 29-25 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Radford opened the second half on a 9-0 run to extend its advantage to 34-25 with 17:13 left to play. The Highlanders would continue its strong start to the half and balloon its lead to 44-30 with 13:16 remaining.
Bucknell then went on a 10-0 run of its own to make it a 46-42 game with 10:41 left on the clock. The Bison continued to battle and made it a one-point game at 51-50 with just 7:01 left to go in the contest.
It was then Radford's turn to answer back as the Highlanders scored the next six points to make it a 57-50 game with 4:53 left.
Bucknell wouldn't quit however and forced three straight turnovers to pull off another 7-0 run of its own to tie things at 57-57 with 2:23 on the clock.
After two made Highlander free throws gave Radford a slight 59-57 lead with 19 seconds left, the Bison drove right down the court for a game-tying layup. The Bucknell student-athlete was fouled on the attempt, but couldn't covert his free throw chance, and a missed Highlander three-point chance at the buzzer sent the game to extra time.
Bucknell was able to lead twice early in the overtime session, but a
Jonas Sirtautas put-back for a three-point play gave the Highlanders the edge for good at 65-64 with 2:35 to go. After a few times down and back the court,
Truth Harris buried a three-pointer to give Radford a 72-67 edge with just 46 seconds left, a lead they would never relinquish to close out the 74-70 victory.
THE FACTS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 74, Bucknell – 70 (overtime)
LOCATION: Dedmon Center (Radford, Virginia)
RECORDS: RU 9-2 (0-0 Big South), Bucknell 4-7 (0-0 Patriot)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-
Jarvis Moss paced the Highlanders with a team-best 15 points to go with four rebounds, a team-high three assists and a steal. It was the Concord, North Carolina native's sixth double-digit scoring game so far this season. Moss is now fifth in the Big South Conference in scoring at 15.5 points per game.
-
Josiah Harris was next with 12 points off a 4-of-5 afternoon from the field (.800). He also added five boards and one helper in 16 minutes of action. The Wilmington, Delaware native is averaging 10.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game over his last five contests. He has gone for double-digits in points in three straight games and six times overall so far this year.
-
Isaiah Gaines and
Ibu Yamazaki chipped in eight points apiece, respectively. Gaines just missed out on a double-double with nine boards and one assist while Yamazaki recorded six rebounds and one helper.
-
Brandon Maclin was once again a major force inside as he pulled down a game-best 14 rebounds to go along with seven points, one assist and one swipe. The 14 boards tied for the third-most recorded by a Big South student-athlete in a contest so far this season.
-
Tony Felder and
Jonas Sirtautas were important unsung heroes in the victory. Felder posted six points, three assists and two rebounds while Sirtautas added six points and three boards. Both played big minutes down the stretch after the Highlanders ran into foul trouble.
-
Truth Harris (game-best four steals, two rebounds, two helpers) and
Zion Walker (one assist) each finished with five points apiece, respectively.
-
David Early also posted two points on a perfect 1-of-1 performance.
- As has been the trend all season, 10 different Highlanders finished with at least two points and 12 different student-athletes checked into the game overall for Radford.
- The Highlanders finished with 34 points in the paint and 24 bench points. Radford has now recorded 24-plus bench points in ten of their 11 games so far this year.
- The contest was a back-and-forth affair that featured eight lead changes and nine different times that the game was tied.
- Radford improved to 2-0 all-time against Bucknell in school history, adding to its 70-63 win in Lewisburg a season ago.
- The contest was a physical one that featured 57 fouls called overall which led to a combined 69 free throw attempts between the two squads. Six different student-athletes also fouled out of the contest.
A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS
POST GAME PRESSER
NEXT UP
The Highlanders will take a short break to finish up final exams before hitting the road for a west coast trip that begins against the Big 12's Utah on Saturday, December 14. Tip is set for 7 PM ET/5 PM MT from the Jon M. Huntsman Center and the game will be played in front of a national audience on ESPN+.
GET IN THE GAME: FOLLOW RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
Get in the game and get New River City made by staying up to date with the latest from Radford Men's Basketball through
@RadfordHoops on X,
@radfordhoops on Instagram,
Radford Men's Basketball on Facebook and
subscribe to the Radford Athletics Youtube channel.
