Radford Moves Past Presbyterian to Reach Semifinals, 84-76
BUIES CREEK N.C. – In stark contrast to its run through the Big South Tournament a season ago, the Radford men's basketball team used hot shooting from all over the floor to race past No. 7 Presbyterian, 84-76, on Thursday to secure a spot in the semifinals.
BOX SCORE
Trailing by three heading into the second half, the Highlanders caught fire from beyond the arc, going 8-for-15 over the final 20 minutes to change the entire complexion of the game. Senior guard Caleb Tanner was a huge catalyst for that, going 4-for-4 on threes off the bench.
Senior forward Ed Polite Jr. turned in a dominant performance, going 8-for-12 for 21 points alongside nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Junior guard Donald Hicks was excellent, going 5-for-8 with 16 points while redshirt sophomore guard Carlik Jones gave Radford a fourth double-figure scorer with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
As a team the Highlanders went 30-for-56 (53.6%) in the game and just as importantly, 13-for-17 (76.5%) from the free throw line to ice the game. They improve to 21-10 overall while Presbyterian's season comes to an end at 18-15.
The first half was the definition of back-and-forth basketball as the Highlanders and Blue Hose battled through five ties and five lead changes. Radford shot very well, going 14-for-26 (53.8%) but Presbyterian took a 37-34 lead into halftime thanks to eight 3-pointers.
Graduate center Mawdo Sallah picked up exactly where he left off in the last game, winning the opening tip before knocking down his first shot of the day. After Radford pushed that lead to 7-4, PC went on an 8-0 run that featured a pair of shots from long range to go in front 12-7.
As the game evolved, Coach Jones relied more on his bench. One of the biggest contributors was junior guard Devin Hutchinson who came ready to play in his first taste of the Big South Championship and scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting in the first half alone.
Radford came out the locker room on fire, riding an 8-0 run to retake the lead just one-minute and 26-seconds into the period. At 65-52, the Highlanders mounted their largest lead of the game with 8:38 left in regulation.
A 12-2 run for Presbyterian over the next three minutes would nearly erase that lead, but timely buckets and clutch free throws allowed the Highlanders to hang on for the win.
The Highlanders will face the winner of No. 3 Winthrop and No. 6 Charleston Southern in the semifinals. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, March 8 in Gore Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN+.