Jack Vance's Coaching Life - CH2K8

[southernmetalhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by mpejkrm

You're non-conference schedule is absolutely brutal. Good luck against JMU and hopefully you step it up in Big South play.

Yeah, in reality I had like 5 guaranteed losses. My non-conference schedule won't be as tough next year, maybe 2 or 3 big opponents. I hope Big South play treats us better although we look to be underdogs in most of those games.

[southernmetalhead]

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Dec 16, 2007
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	1	Kansas	8-1
2	2	North Carolina	8-1
3	3	Texas A&M	9-0
4	4	Marquette	8-0
5	6	Memphis	5-1
6	8	Georgetown	7-1
7	7	Louisville	7-1
8	9	Kentucky	9-1
9	10	Florida State	11-1
10	12	Texas	8-1
11	5	Tennessee	7-2
12	13	Georgia	6-0
13	16	Villanova	7-1
14	11	Michigan State	7-2
15	16	Georgia Tech	7-1
16	21	Arizona	6-2
17	22	UCLA	5-2
18	19	Indiana	7-2
19	17	Oregon	7-3
20	14	Mississippi State	9-1
21	NR	Washington	6-1
22	18	Vanderbilt	8-2
23	23	Washington State	7-2
24	25	Maryland	6-2
25	NR	Xavier	8-2

[southernmetalhead]

Radford Highlanders (3-6) 72

James Madison Dukes (5-3) 69

HARRISONBURG, VA - In the midst of a brutal stretch in their schedule, the Radford Highlanders picked up their best win of the season by knocking off a 5-2 James Madison team 72-69 and stopped a three game losing streak in the process.

It was not an easy start to the game for Radford as James Madison jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, but the Highlanders would fight back and snag the advantage by a 17-16 margin. Holding James Madison to just 28% shooting on 9/33 FG in the 1st half, Radford was able to sneak into halftime with a 29-28 lead on the Dukes.

The Highlanders scoring attack was balanced in the 1st half as Harlan Bright had 5 points, Thomas Coulter had 7 points, Bamba Sweetney had 6 points, and Adam Nevill had 6 points. James Madison was more of a one man show with Todor Platt leading the way with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

Coach Vance's team would not tail off in the 2nd half and eventually pushed their lead to 64-55, threatening to blow the game open. James Madison would have none of that however and trimmed the lead down to 64-61 when Thomas Coulter hit a clutch 3 pointer for Radford with 35 seconds left in the game. The Dukes responded immediately though with a Troy Ricks 3 pointer leaving the score at 67-64 with 31 seconds left. The Highlanders would then be forced to make free throws, and they did to pick up a quality win against a CAA opponent.

Sweetney led Radford in scoring with 17 points, while Coulter had 15, and Bright and Nevill had 11. Platt finished a huge game for James Madison with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, Ricks had 14 points, and Ellis Boyd had 10 points and 9 rebounds for the losing Dukes.

Now Radford will turn around and welcome in West Virginia (5-3) to the Dedmon Center in what will be the biggest game at Radford in quite some time. Averaging just 25% capacity so far this season, Coach Vance hopes the crowd will turn out to support the Highlanders against the Mountaineers.

Radford Highlanders at James Madison Dukes
Dec 17, 2007	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Radford (3-6)	29	43	72
James Madison (5-3)	28	41	69

[southernmetalhead]

West Virginia Mountaineers (5-4) 59

Radford Highlanders (4-6) 68

RADFORD, VA - The Radford Highlanders welcomed Big East foe West Virginia to the 3,000 seat Dedmon Center hoping for something special and they made it happen in one of the biggest wins in school history, knocking off the Mountaineers 68-59 to give first year Radford head coach Jack Vance a signature win on his resume as he tries to build the Highlanders basketball program.

"This is so special for our kids and our school," Vance said. "We've had a tough start to the year as we try to get this program going. We've played a lot of what people call 'body bag' games and taken our lumps. But credit to us for staying strong and gutting out this win against a West Virginia team I admire for agreeing to play us here."

The game certainly didn't look like upset material early as Radford fell down 15-5 when West Virginia came out hot from 3 point land hitting 3 of their first 6 shots from behind the arc. The Mountaineers would ride momentum to a 27-12 lead before the Highlanders finally made something happen with a timely 9-0 run that likely kept them from getting run out of the gym.

West Virginia would cool down from their early success and eventually finish the half shooting just 32% on 11/34 FG. Thomas Coulter's 3 point basket around the 1 minute mark of the 1st half got Radford to within one point at 30-29 as the game went to halftime despite the Highlanders shooting only 31% on 9/29 FG themselves.

Knowing they now had a chance, Radford came out of the break and sent a message as they opened the 2nd half on a 7-0 run to take a 36-30 lead. Minutes later a Bamba Sweetney three pointer followed by a Rashad Werner bucket inside would swell the lead to 47-36 as the small but loyal Radford fans went wild in the Dedmon Center.

West Virginia would eventually find themselves down 56-41 when they finally started to get a run going by scoring seven straight points, only to have that surge stopped dead in its tracks by a Filiberto Bazin three pointer. The Mountaineers could muster no other response and finished out the game shooting just 33% as they dropped what looked to be an easy win for them to a Big South school.

Sweetney lead all scorers with 19 points for Radford while Coulter added 16 points, Harlan Bright had 9 points and 11 assists, and J.R. Cowen had 7 points and 12 rebounds. Errek Buckman was the top WVU scorer with 16 points, joined in double figures by Todd Williams with 15 points, and Konrad Cummings with 12 points.

Next up for Radford, a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face a struggling NC State team who is currently 3-4. The game will be even tougher than the West Virginia matchup though as it's on the road, but Coach Vance and his Highlanders won't be backing down as they now have concrete evidence they can pull off a win against a major conference school.

West Virginia Mountaineers at Radford Highlanders
Dec 18, 2007	1ST	2ND	SCORE
West Virginia (5-4)	30	29	59
Radford (4-6)	29	39	68

[Knickerbocker91]

Nice win over a big program, Radford's off to a decent start this season

[southernmetalhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Nice win over a big program, Radford's off to a decent start this season

Thanks, it was a pleasant surprise.

I was afraid I would be heading into Big South play at 2-9, but with these wins over James Madison and West Virginia it looks more like I will be 4-7 which is much more acceptable.

[jusman97]

Keep posting. You've inspired me to play ch2k8 again. I will keep following.

[mpejkrm]

Quote: Originally Posted by jusman97

Keep posting. You've inspired me to play ch2k8 again. I will keep following.

Good for you man! CH2K8 may be old, but it is still great.

Back on topic, huge win over WVU! I know someone won't be too happy about that...