Radford Scores Road Win At Charleston Southern

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Radford placed three players in double figures to pick up a critical 66-56 road Conference win over Charleston Southern Saturday evening at the CSU fieldhouse.

Sophomore Chris Oliver led the Highlanders with 21 points and eight rebounds. Senior Olumuyiwa Popoola also grabbed eight rebounds and tallied 14 points. Andre Bynum finished with 13 points and three assists. The Highlanders shot 17-of-28 from the line, sinking 13 more free throws than CSU and pulled down five more rebounds.

The Bucs (8-12, 5-5 Big South) were paced by Thomas Harrison’s 15 points. Nathan Ball has 12 points and Kurtis Rice scored 10 points. Jovan Jegdic led Charleston Southern on the glass with six.

Radford (10-11, 5-5 Big South) pushed the lead as high as 12 in the second half and held on down the stretch. With RU up six, Oliver hit two free throws to push the lead to eight, after which Popoola swiped the ball from Charleston Southern to give the Highlanders possession and secure the win.

Oliver spurred RU’s first half surge, scoring the Highlanders’ first nine points, tallying 14 by halftime. The Bucs scored seven straight points to open the game before a lay-up by Oliver got the Highs on the board. The teams traded buckets until a three-pointer by Bynum sparked a 7-0 lead that gave Radford a slight lead that they would sustain into halftime, taking a 31-29 lead into the locker room.

Radford was playing without the services of juniors Whit Holcomb-Faye (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Chris Goodin (Springfield, Va.) and Tom Hayes (Fairfax, Va.) and freshman Branden Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) who were all suspended for a violation of team rules and athletic department policy.

Radford will be at Coastal Carolina Monday in game two of the Highlanders’ Big South beach swing. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm. The Buccaneers will host Conference foe VMI Monday at 7:00 pm.