JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Three days in March has now turned into two days in March as the Radford men's basketball program punched its ticket to the Big South Semifinals after the Highlanders collected a 74-69 victory in an overtime thriller against Presbyterian in the conference quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.
Survive and advance is the name of the game this time of year and that is exactly what Radford did with a showdown against the top seed in the conference, High Point, looming on Saturday, March 8. Tip is set for noon ET inside the Freedom Hall Civic Center.
It was a tale of two halves for the Highlanders as Radford was able to jump out to a 37-23 lead after 20 minutes of play. The Highlanders took over the first half lead for good with 16:40 still left to play in the opening frame. Radford turned a slight 6-5 lead into a 15-10 advantage with 10:08 left on the clock. That is when the Highlanders turned it on as the squad ended the first half on a 22-13 run to take a 37-23 lead into the locker room.
Presbyterian turned it into a game with a 12-2 run to open the second half to cut the Radford lead down to 39-35 with 17:30 on the clock. The Blue Hose would go on to tie the game at 43-43 and then took a three-point advantage with 14:02 remaining. The next 10 minutes featured eight lead changes and two times the contest was tied as the Highlanders eventually took a 62-57 edge with 4:38 left.
Radford continued to hold steady, but the Blue Hose just kept chipping away to tie the game once again at 65-65 with just 33 seconds to go. The Highlanders would get two chances before the final horn, but both attempts missed to send this one to overtime.
The Blue Hose scored the first basket of the extra session, but Radford wasn't going to let this one slip away with a 9-2 run over the final 2:33 to seal the 74-69 win.
THE FACTS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 74, Presbyterian – 69 (OT)
LOCATION: Freedom Hall Civic Center (Johnson City, Tennessee)
RECORDS: RU 20-12 (9-7 Big South), Presbyterian 14-18 (7-9)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- It was another complete team effort for the Highlanders as Radford finished with four student-athletes in double figures in points and 25 bench points overall.
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Jarvis Moss, fresh off his Big South All-Conference honorable mention, paced the Highlanders with a team-best 16 points to go with three assists and a rebound.
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David Early was the most clutch student-athlete on the floor as he made his mark felt most in the overtime session. He finished with 14 points and five boards.
- Not to be overshadowed,
TJ NeSmith also had one of his best games of the year with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists.
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Truth Harris made it four Highlanders in double digits with 11 points, four boards, three helpers and a steal.
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Isaiah Gaines pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with six points and a block.
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Ibu Yamazaki (four points, five rebounds),
Jonas Sirtautas (four points, one board),
Josiah Harris (two points, seven rebounds, one rejection) and
Chace Davis (two points) also made their impact on the stat sheet, respectively.
- Radford converted an insane 23-of-26 of its free throw attempts to finish with an 88.5 percent clip from the charity stripe. It was the ninth-highest percentage posted by a Big South school in a game so far this season,
- With the victory, the Highlanders reached 20 wins for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign. It is the second time over his first four seasons that head coach
Darris Nichols had led his squad to the 20-plus win plateau.
VICTORY HIGHLIGHTS
CELEBRATION WITH THE SQUAD
POST GAME PRESSER
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