RADFORD, VA. Radford used a 13-4
run midway through the second half and held off a late Campbell
rally to claim a 75-68 men's basketball victory Saturday night at
the Dedmon Center.
Kenny Thomas scored 23 points
one shy of the career high 24 he had Monday to lead
four Radford (4-6) players in double figures. Joey Lynch-Flohr added 15 points and
nine rebounds, while Cole Wilder came off the bench to chip in 13
and Martell McDuffy had 11.
Jonathan Rodriguez topped
Campbell (2-5) with a season-high 27 points, plus 13 rebounds for
his fourth double-double in as many games against the Highlanders
in the last two years. The
sophomore forward is averaging 22.8 points and 13.3 boards vs.
Radford.
Reggie Bishop added 12 points
all in the second half and Kyle Vejraska 10 for the
Camels.
Campbell wrapped a 15-4 run around the
half as Bishop scored the first five points of the second period to
tie the score at 29-all with 18:22 to play. However, Thomas hit a trio of threes
and scored on a breakaway dunk in a 13-4 flurry to lift RU to a
42-33 advantage with 14:16 remaining.
The Radford lead reached 20
(64-44) on Thomas' free throws with 4:36 left before Bishop hit a
pair of free throws and then canned a triple from the left
corner. Jake Wohlfeil's
three with 10 seconds to play brought the Camels as close as they
would get down the stretch.
Campbell made just four of its first
12 free throws and hit only 13-of-21 (.619) on the night. The Camels shot just 41.7
percent from the field and made just 5-of-18 threes (.278). Rodriguez hit 12-of-17 from the
floor, but his teammates made only 13-of-43 (.302) field
goals.
Radford shot 40.4 percent
(19-47) from the floor and made 9-of-20 (.450) threes. RU also hit 28-of-40 from the
line. Wilder canned all
three of his triples, while Thomas made 5-of-8 from long
distance.
Radford used a 9-0 run midway
through the first half to take the lead and the cushion was 25-14
when Martell McDuffy hit a pair of free throws with 2:46 left in
the period. However,
Jonathan Rodriguez scored eight of his 14 first-half points in the
final 2:00 and the Camels cut the gap to 29-24 at the
break.
Rodriguez, who made 7-of-10
shots in the opening period while grabbing seven rebounds, and
Vejraska (8 points) combined for 22 of Campbell's 24 first-half
points. Lynch-Flohr had
nine first-half points for the Highlanders.
Radford shot just 33 percent
(9-27) from the floor in the opening half, but made 9-of-13 free
throws. Campbell hit 41
percent (12-29) of its first half shots, but was 0-of-7 from
3-point range and did not attempt a free throw.
Campbell's first foul shots of the
night came with 13:06 to go in the second half when Junard Hartley
made a pair from the line.
In an 87-70 Camel win over
the Highlanders 87-70 last month at Buies Creek, N.C., the Camels
knocked down 24-of-33 from the line, while Radford made just
12-of-21 from the stripe.
Saturday's loss was
Campbell's 10th-straight on the road against a Big South Conference
opponent. CU last won on a
Big South team's home floor on Nov. 18, 2000 in an 85-70 decision
at UNC Asheville.
Campbell returns to action Thursday at
UNC Asheville in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off its fifth of seven
games against a Big South foe this year.