Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992 TAG: 9202230263
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
HIGHLANDERS BOUND FOR TITLE
In the greater scheme of things, two years isn't much.After Radford whipped Davidson 89-75 in a Big South Conference basketball game Saturday night, two years might as well have been two centuries.
It seemed so long ago that the Highlanders sputtered, coughed and finally blew a gasket en route to the purgatory of a 7-22 season in 1989-90.
With many of the survivors still aboard, Radford clinched at least a tie for its first league title Saturday night.
"I'm really happy for this group of seniors," Highlanders coach Ron Bradley said. "I'm glad I wasn't here a couple of years ago. But these guys have really been through it.
"I don't know what the psychological factors are, but maybe it was that they just said then, `This is never going to happen to us again.' "
Nor has it.
Now seniors, Chris Hawkins, Stephen Barber, Pete Reece and Nate Joy were on the team that went 22-7 last season. This season they have won seven straight and 13 of 14 to go 11-1 in the conference and 18-7 overall.
No matter what happens in the last two conference games next week, Radford is assured of the top seeding in the league tournament. If Radford and second-place Liberty end the regular season tied, the Highlanders get the top seeding through the conference tie-breaker system.
"We're looking at winning five more games and going to the NCAA Tournament," said Hawkins, who had nine points and five assists in 28 minutes. "That's our goal now."
Radford shot 56 percent in the second half and 55.6 percent (30-for-54) for the game, the fourth-straight game they have shot better than 50 percent as a team. It was the third time in the past four games they have shot better than 55 percent.
Doug Day had a game high of 27 points, Barber had 15 points and five assists, Don Burgess added 11 points and five rebounds, and Brian Schmall came off the bench for 10 points. Reece and Tom Gallaher combined for 17 points and seven rebounds.
A crowd of 4,300, including many alumni and former players, saw Radford do its usual job of pressure defense and precision ball-control. The Wildcats (2-8, 7-16) had a 16-12 turnover deficit, which was one reason they couldn't better exploit a 34-27 rebounding edge and a decided size advantage.
Detlef Musch, a 6-foot-11 center, had 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting, but 13 of that came in the second half when Davidson was playing catchup.
"We had that mismatch at [the offensive] end of the floor, but Radford had three or four mismatches at the other end of the floor," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "That's what makes them so tough."
Radford led all but 1:37 of the first half. Davidson got close on several occasions but never did sustain a push. The Wildcats got no closer than six points after the first 1:58 of the second half.
That's when Day went on one of his sharks-at-snack time shooting sprees, scoring 12 points in 1:43 on four-straight 3-pointers.
"He was calling for it, and we got to get it to him," Hawkins said.
Day hit four of eight 3-point attempts in the second half and six of 13 for the game. The four in the second half were considerably longer than the required distance.
"It's a confidence thing," Day said. "Every shot we take in the game we work on in practice."
Not those kinds of shots, Gallaher said.
"He works on those after practice, when Coach Bradley has gone upstairs," Gallaher said. "While we're shooting layups, Doug's shooting 35-footers." \
see microfilm for box score