Radford, Va. – Winthrop men's basketball suffered its first Big South loss as it fell 87-67 at Radford, Saturday evening inside the Dedmon Center.
WINTHROP (11-6, 1-1 Big South)
Radford (11-6, 1-1 Big South)
- Zion Walker (30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)
- Brandon Maclin (13 points, 5 rebounds, assist, block, 2 steals)
- Josiah Harris (10 points, 9 rebounds, assist, block)
FIRST HALF
- Radford won the tip and scored on the opening possession as Josiah Harris scored at the rim
- Highlanders led 5-0 after a triple from Zion Walker
- Eagles got on the board at the 17:44 mark as Nick Johnson converted two free throws
- Trailing 9-3, Kasen Harrison stole the ball that led to a layup on the other end by Johnson
- It was a six point game with Radford leading 18-12 after Harrison scored on a layup with 10:50 left in the half
- Radford outscored the Eagles 7-2 over the next two minutes and pushed the lead to double-digits at 25-14 after a three from Walker
- A K.J. Doucet three-point play cut the Radford lead to 40-26 with 50 seconds left, but the Highlanders knocked down two threes in the final minute to lead 46-26 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Radford, which shot 69 percent from the floor in the first half, opened the second half making its first three shots, including a three from Truth Harris for a 51-28 lead
- Eagles got the deficit under 20 points at the 14:50 mark after Bryce Baker knocked down a jumper to trail 57-38
- Two free throws from Harrison followed by a drive and score off the glass cut the Radford lead to 57-42 with 12:45 remaining
- Eagles had a chance to cut the lead down to 12-13 points but Johnson couldn't get a shot to fall as the Highlanders scored on the other end with a three-point play by Walker
- Doucet scored inside with 6:30 left as the Eagles tried to chip away and trailed 68-52
- Radford responded with another three as Harris knocked it down with six minutes to go
- Eagles kept fighting and made it a 13-point game with 5:12 remaining after two free throws by Harrison but that was as close as they got
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Radford shot 69 percent from the floor in the first half and was held to 36 percent in the second half to finish at 52 percent for the game
- Winthrop finished the game 3-for-17 behind the arc and was at 36 percent from the field
- Both teams were successful at the free throw line as Winthrop was 22-of-29 and Radford was 21-of-24
- Highlanders won the battle of the boards 42-29 as both teams had 14 offensive rebounds
- Eagles took advantage more from the offensive boards finishing outscoring Radford 18-7 in second chance points
- Paint points were also equal with each team finished with 34
NOTABLES
- Talford was in double-figures for the fourth straight game while Doucet has now been in double-figures the last three
- Talford's eight rebounds led the team and in the process moved past 800 in his career (803), becoming the 18th player in Big South history to reach 800 rebounds
- Harrison moved past 1,400 career points as he finished with 12
UP NEXT
Winthrop remains on the road for a second straight game as it heads to Boiling Springs, N.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 to take on Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
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