On senior day at Radford University, the school honored (from left) Justin Cousin, Christian Bradford and Randy Phillips
Seniors Christian Bradford, Justin Cousin and Randy Phillips led the Radford University men’s basketball team to a 74-68 overtime victory over Presbyterian to end their careers at the Dedmon Center with a win on Sunday.
After a back-and-forth second half, the Highlanders had successfully battled back from a six-point halftime deficit to take a 65-63 lead as the clock ticked towards the end of regulation. Davon Bell found a way to put the Blue Hose back in front though, drilling a step-back three with 13 seconds to go.
Radford called timeout and drew up a final play. Junior forward Ed Polite Jr. received the ball at the top of the key and drove to the basket, but his layup attempt bounced off the rim. Luckily for the Highlanders, Phillips was there to collect the offensive rebound and draw the foul. The Jackson, Miss. native hit 1-of-2 free throws with one second left, sending the game into overtime.
From there, it was all Radford. Presbyterian hit the first shot in the extra period before Phillips responded with a layup. Redshirt freshman Carlik Jones hit a layup of his own and then added a free throw two minutes later to extend the lead to 71-68. Polite Jr. then came up with a big block on one end and an even bigger 3-pointer with 10 seconds left on the other end to secure the victory.
All of this came after an unusual first half for the Highlanders. As a team they shot 54.5% (12-22) from the field including a 70% (7-10) clip from distance, but still trailed 33-39 at halftime.
The Blue Hose bounced back from a 4-9 deficit with a 14-2 run, retaking its lead and charging ahead, 18-12. Radford responded with a 13-3 to snatch the lead right back at 27-23.
With a full eight more shot attempts in the period than Radford, PC managed to end the half on a 16-6 run while shooting exactly 50% from the field (15-30) and from 3-point range (6-12).
With the win, Radford improves to 17-12 overall and 10-6 in the Big South, maintaining its sole ownership of third place in the conference standings. Presbyterian falls to 11-18 overall and only 4-12 against Big South foes.
Phillips finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a gargantuan 31-minute effort. Bradford scored a season-high 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting as well, adding four assists and two rebounds across 36 minutes. Cousin rounded out a strong day for the seniors with six points and a rebound thanks to a 2-for-3 day from beyond the arc.
Sophomore guard Donald Hicks led Radford with 15 points in a career day. He knocked down five three pointers in nine attempts, both of which match season and career-highs.
Presbyterian finished with four players in double-figures: J.C. Younger (17), Davon Bell (16), Reggie Dillard (13) and Ruben Arroyo (11). Bell led all players with six assists.
Radford improves to 14-7 all-time against Presbyterian and completes the season sweep. Radford had the same starting five for the last 19 games, but changed it up and started Bradford, Cousin, Hicks, Holland and Phillips for Senior Day.
Darius Bolstad went to work in the post and scored his first points since Dec. 9, 2017 against Erskine. He was sidelined for 17 games due to a knee injury. The Highlanders out-rebounded their opponent for the fourth straight game, beating PC 33-30 in the category
Radford’s bench outscored PC’s, 28-12, thanks in part to Jones’ 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Presbyterian forced 13 turnovers and turned them into 21 points. Radford got just six points off eight turnovers. The 52.9% (27-51) is the second-best shooting percentage of the season for Radford, trailing only their 58.5% (31-53) outburst against UNC Asheville on Jan .6.
10 of the 11 Highlanders to see the floor scored at least one field goal on the day. Sophomore guard Travis Fields Jr. matched Bradford with a team-leading four assists.
Free throws almost doomed the Highlanders. They shot a season-worst 7-for-17 (41.2%) from the charity stripe.
“We obviously didn’t start the game the right way. I didn’t think our focus and concentration was there. Senior Day can sometimes be a distraction rather than a cause to galvanize and unite, but somehow and some way we continued to fight. We stayed in it during the first half and in the second half it was a back-and-forth game. Presbyterian played their hearts out and really gained a lot of confidence in the first half. We gave the confidence to them and they took it and ran with it. Then it became a monster that was hard to stop. Our guys continued to fight and showed a lot of will and toughness to close this one out,” said Head Coach Mike Jones.
Radford heads to Liberty for a rematch at the Vines Center this Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Liberty Flames Sports Network and Big South Network.
–RU Athletics
