Radford Snaps Losing Streak With Win at VMI

LEXINGTON, Va. -- Radford placed three players in double figures and held VMI scoreless from beyond the arc to cruise to a 78-62 Big South win Wednesday at Cameron Hall. (Box Score)

Sophomore Chris Oliver (Kernersville, N.C.) had a double-double, scoring 17 points and 12 rebounds for Radford. Junior Whit Holcomb-Faye (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led all scorers with 20 points. Senior Olumuyiwa Popoola (Gardena, Calif.) chipped in 16 points.

The Keydets were 0-15 from three-point land for the game. For the fourth consecutive game, a VMI opponent broke open a close game with strong second half shooting.

Radford shot 55.6 percent (15-27) in the second half after going 41.7 percent (15-36) in the first half.

The Highlanders snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 7-9, 2-3 in the Big South. The loss was VMI's seventh straight. The Keydets fall to 5-9, 0-4 in League play.

Keydet sophomore guard Matt Coward led VMI in scoring with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field and five of six in free throw shooting. Teammate Reggie Williams tallied 12 points.

Radford played an intense first half, forcing nine VMI turnovers. The Highlanders, who have been plagued with slow starts recently, got on the board first with a basket from Popoola. The teams then traded scores for most of the first half, with RU holding a 33-28 edge at the break, its first halftime lead in a game since the Lees-McRae game in early December.

The Highlanders saw their lead trimmed to 35-32 when Coward hit a layup with 18:15 left in the second half. The Highlanders answered with a 17-5 run over the next 5:38 topped by junior Chris Goodin’s (Springfield, Va.) three-pointer with 12:37 remaining to push the Highlanders ahead, 52-37.

The Keydets were able to shave the deficit to single digits just once the rest of the way when freshman Justin Jarman hit a twisting layup at the 7:54 mark, but Radford gradually pushed its margin back to 15 points (64-59) just over a minute later when Oliver converted a three-point play with 6:18 remaining.

The Highlanders were never threatened the rest of the evening and nailed nine of 10 free throws in the final 1:47 to seal the win.

Radford will return home for a key Big South matchup against High Point Saturday at 7:00 pm. The Keydets will be at in-state rival Liberty Monday at 9:00 pm in a Big South Television Network game.