Radford offense catches fire in 102-66 win over SC-Upstate

Highlanders will face Big South leader Winthrop Thursday

Radford, Va. – A heavy dose of offense and solid defense by the Radford men’s basketball team led to a 102-66 rout over USC Upstate on Friday night inside the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders (13-7, 12-2 Big South) scored the most first half points and the most second half points in a game all season, which led to a season-high of total points scored in a game. It’s the first time the Highlanders have scored over the century mark since Feb. 7, 2019 at Hampton in a 101-98 win. Radford jumped out to a 26-4 lead and pushed it to a 34-8 advantage with 9:21 remaining in the first half. The 26-point lead would not be the largest of the half or night for Radford.

Quinton Morton-Robertson hit back-to-back 3-pointers with less than six minutes to go in the half and pushed the lead to 28 points, 45-17. Morton-Robertson had 16 points with a career-high five made 3-pointers on a 5-for-6 shooting night. He was tied for the game-high in points with Dravon Mangum who also notched 16 and made three long balls for the fourth time this season. The duo made eight of Radford’s season-high 13 made 3-pointers. Five other players contributed a made trey ball as Radford shot 44.8 percent from beyond the arc. Radford shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the first half and increased that percentage in the second half. The Highlanders scored 52 points in the second half, which hadn’t been done since Nov. 12, 2019 against Bridgewater College. The Spartans (3-13, 3-7 Big South) made a small push at the end of the first half and an even bigger one midway through the second, cutting the deficit to 15 points with 11:05 to play. However, one of Mangum’s 3-pointers led Radford to end the game on a 35-14 run and seal the 38-point victory.

Stat of the Game The 102 points scored was the most against a Division I opponent since the 2013-14 season when Radford beat UNC Asheville, 102-92, on Feb. 13.

Inside the Box Score Radford had all 16 players on the roster see action in the game and all but one score a point, including Joshua Walker who scored his first collegiate points.

Shaquan Jules had 11 points and had a +28 +/- stat, the most of any player on the team.

Lewis Djonkam notched 10 points. Fah’Mir Ali tallied five assists and Mangum,

Chyree Walker and Jules led the way with five rebounds each. Radford shot 23-of-27 from the charity stripe, good for 85.2 percent.

Tweet of the Game

Quotable ”It was certainly a much different start of the game tonight as opposed to last night,” Mike Jones said. “I thought our defensive intensity set the tone right from the beginning and carried through most of the game. We were able to get a nice win.” Up NextIt will be a battle of the top two teams inside the Dedmon Center on Thursday and Friday night as Winthrop comes to town. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m., both nights.

Follow Radford Men’s Basketball To follow the Radford men’s basketball team, visit RadfordAthletics.com, follow @RadfordMBB on Twitter, ‘radfordmbb’ Instagram or Radford Men’s Basketball on Facebook.