Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 10, 1993 TAG: 9301100111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
RADFORD FEASTS ON 1ST BIG SOUTH FOE
Radford University didn't know how absolutely delighted it would be to see Charleston Southern visiting the Dedmon Center.But after an early schedule that was by turns murderous or tedious, the Highlanders apparently needed a stiff shot of Big South Conference basketball competition.
Radford got it Saturday with a 95-70 victory in the league opener for both teams.
The change of pace seemed to serve as a sweet elixir to the home team as the Highlanders played perhaps their finest all-around game of the season, pounding the Buccaneers without cease at both ends of the floor.
The triumph was satisfying to Radford in a couple of other ways. One, it was a chance to tag the Buccaneers (3-4 overall, 0-1 Big South) with the highest point total they'd ever surrendered. Two, it was a measure of revenge for an 88-83 upset loss to the Bucs during the semifinals of the conference tournament last year.
"We've been waiting for this since the first day of practice," said Radford guard Brian Schmall, who had 13 points and five assists. "We've been waiting for this since the tournament last year."
After a deliberate start, Radford (7-6, 1-0) began to pull away in the last nine minutes of the first half to take a 46-33 lead at the break. Then, it built a 25-point cushion, saw it dwindle to 14, then took off again to run its lead up to 29 points.
"It got pretty brutal for a while there," Charleston Southern coach Gary Edwards said.
The Highlanders had six players in double figures and fought the Bucs to a 43-43 draw on the backboards, but had the most eye-catching activities at the defensive end, where they blocked nine shots. Tyrone Travis led six swatters with four. Southern also was held to 34.8 percent shooting (23 of 66) for the game.
Doug Day spearheaded a posse that threw a net around Darnell Sneed, who made only six of 17 shots and was limited to 16 points, more than seven points under his league-leading average.
"My offense has always seemed to overshadow my defense," Day said. "I like to show people I can play defense too. Sneed's a great player and we didn't want to let him get started."
Day didn't exactly wear himself out working over Sneed. Day made five of eight 3-point shots and finished with a game-high 22 points. Over the past three games, Day has gone 14-for-25 from beyond the arc.
It wasn't only Day's shooting that Radford coach Ron Bradley noticed Saturday.
"I thought that was Doug Day's best all-around game - at least that I've seen," Bradley said.
Others were well-rounded. Travis had a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points. Chris Harvey had a career-high 10 points and made all four of his shots. Tom Gallaher added 12 points and seven rebounds. \
see microfilm for box score