High Point Panthers (11-7, 3-3 Big South) 58
Radford Highlanders (5-11, 1-4 Big South) 76
RADFORD, VA - After four consecutive defeats to start Big South play, Coach Vance decided changes had to be made. His solution was to dump the primary 2-3 zone defense Radford has played all season in favor of a man-to-man approach. The results were certainly positive as Radford easily handled High Point, who came in ranked 15th in the Mid-Major Poll, by a score of 76-58 for the Highlanders' first conference win.
The defensive change was evident early for a Radford team who had been conceding buckets at an alarming rate. Coach Vance's club opened the game on a 10-2 run, pushed the lead to double-digits at the 13:12 mark when a Thomas Coulter three pointer made the score 15-4, and went ahead by 20 points with 5:10 left in the 1st half when a Rashad Werner offensive rebound and put-back sent the score to 25-5. High Point would cut into that lead slightly in the final 5 minutes of the half, but nonetheless the score was 31-16 in favor of Radford at the break as the Highlanders held the Panthers to 25% shooting on 6/24 FG. Also helping the cause was a perfect 11/11 from the free throw line for Radford.
In the 2nd half, Radford was not nearly as stingy on the defensive end as High Point managed to reach their 1st half total of 16 points in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half and scored 42 points in total, but Radford's normally sluggish offense was able to keep pace and not let the lead diminish. In fact, Radford would be up by as much as 29 points in the 2nd half before one late High Point run pulled the final result to a still commanding 18 point win for Coach Vance's team.
As usual, Bamba Sweetney and Thomas Coulter led the way for the Highlanders as each player had 18 points. Point guard Harlan Bright only scored 5 points, but did dish out 10 assists. For High Point, Jeromy Sheridan led all scorers with 19 points, Gerard Padilla had 15 points, and Christian Pugh had 13 points.
Now with a conference win under their belt, Radford will look to build a winning streak as they welcome in the Liberty Flames (10-11, 4-2) who are currently in a three-way tie for 1st place in the Big South with Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern.
| High Point Panthers at Radford Highlanders |
| Jan 28, 2008 | 1ST | 2ND | SCORE |
| High Point (11-7) | 16 | 42 | 58 |
| Radford (5-11) | 31 | 45 | 76 |