High Point, N.C.  – The Radford men's basketball program used a strong second half and huge performance from Justin Archer to down USC Upstate on Wednesday night 67-60 to clinch a spot in the Big South Quarterfinals.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Archer earned a career high 21 points and tied his career high with 14 rebounds for his big night. This marks his seventh double-double of the season. DaQuan Smith scored five of his 13 points in the final 90 seconds, including a dagger three to help seal the win.
 
Josiah Harris pulled up to get the first points of the game, followed shortly by an Archer layup, his first of many. Radford excelled from the line earning four points from back to back opportunities from Chandler Turner and Bryan Antoine. In a few short minutes, USC Upstate had a driving layup to pull ahead by 10 points. Radford's defense buckled down and held the Spartans scoreless for four minutes. The Highlanders then went on a 9-0 run to close the gap and make it a one point game. The first half ended 29-32 in favor of USC Upstate.
 
Radford came out the locker room hot and within the first two minutes taking the lead for the first time since the first minute of the game. A layup from Antoine and two made free throws from Smith put the Highlanders ahead 33-32. From there it was back and forth. After 15 minutes of trading the lead, Radford lengthened their lead with a layup from Smith followed by key points from Antoine and Kenyon Giles. This put the score at 57-51, the largest lead for the team.
 
The Spartans found their way to tie up the contest once again. However, the Highlanders were not about to let the game slip away going on an 8-2 run. Smith, Antoine, and Archer all went perfect from the line during the final minute of play to punch the ticket to the Quarterfinals.

KEY STATS

• As a team Radford remains unbeaten this season when battling on a neutral court at 4-0. The Highlanders previously went 2-0 in the Cancun Challenge and picked up a thriller win against Marshall on a neutral floor earlier this season. Radford is 8-4 overall on neutral playing ground under Darris Nichols.
• Free throws win the ball game and Radford did just that. 14 of the Highlanders' 38 points in the second half came from the charity stripe as the team shot 88% (21-24) overall on the night.
• Antoine was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line marking the second time this season he's hit 10+ free throws and remained perfect last hitting 13 of 13 against Elon on Dec. 3, 2023.
• The Highlanders dominated the offensive boards, pulling down 14 more offensive rebounds than the Spartans and outscoring their opponent 29-5 in second chance points.
• Radford turned the ball over just nine times tonight, making it four of the last six games with less than 10 total turnovers.
• The win marks back-to-back seasons where the Highlanders advanced in the Big South tournament.

 
UP NEXT
Radford now moves their attention to the top-seed and hosts High Point on Friday afternoon for the Big South Quarterfinals. Tip-off is currently set for 12 pm.
 
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