RADFORD, Va. – A composure that only comes with experience showed up in crunch time as Radford men’s basketball team held on to defeat Charleston Southern, 75-70, on Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center on Saturday afternoon. Leading by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Highlanders (10-9, 4-2 Big South) braced themselves for an unrelenting comeback effort from the Buccaneers (7-10, 3-3 Big South). A 9-0 run by CSU made it a six-point game with 14 minutes to play and the guests kept it close from there on out.
A rowdy crowd of 1,360 Radford fans held its collective breath as Charleston Southern hit shot after shot to answer any attempt by the Highlanders to pull away. It was a four-point game with 8:37 on the clock and after tons of back-and-forth, it remained a four-point game as yet another Bucs three-point make made it 74-70 with 24 seconds to go. Senior forward Shaquan Jules came up huge in the waning moments, hitting a free throw on one end and then blocking a shot on the other end to run out the clock. The Orlando, Fla. native had a monster game from the jump, scoring a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with a season-high matching 14 rebounds. The double-double performance was his fourth of the year and fifth in his career.
DaQuan Smith’s blazing start to conference play continues as the junior guard dropped a team-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a 3-of-6 clip from deep that brings his three-point percentage in conference play to 63.0%. With 12 points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals, senior guard Josiah Jeffers looked like the quick-cutting, sharp-passing floor general fans have come to know. Radford held the Bucs to a 42.2 (27-64) shooting percentage as a team, but Claudell Harris Jr. went off for the second straight game, pouring in 31 points on 11 field goals and four triples.
KEY STATS
- This was the first game of the season Bryan Antoine did not start. Josiah Jeffers entered the lineup in his place, marking the seventh different starting five for the Highlanders this year
- Field goal attempts were extremely skewed as CSU took 64 (34 in the second half) while Radford took just 42 (14 in the second half)
- The Highlanders’ bench outscored the Bucs’ bench, 30-to-3 despite both teams ranking top-50 in the nation in the category
- CSU grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, but Radford earned a 33-30 advantage in the overall battle on the glass
UP NEXT
Radford’s next match-up is at Campbell on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. inside Gore Arena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.