Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9302280174
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
HIGHLANDERS GET BACK AT LIBERTY 79-74
Ah yes, the subtle pleasures of the rubber match.That's what Radford University and Liberty will enjoy Thursday in the opening round of the Big South Conference basketball tournament after the Highlanders rallied from 12 points down to douse the Flames 79-74 Saturday night at the reeling and rocking Dedmon Center.
Round 3 will put one team in the semifinals and the other on the bumpy bus ride from Charleston, S.C., back to the Old Dominion. Liberty drew and quartered Radford, not to mention hurt Radford's feelings in a 94-74 victory Jan. 28.
"Well, at least Liberty knows that that 20-point game wasn't the real Radford," said Radford forward Tyrone Travis, who had 12 points, three steals, and two blocks.
What is the real Radford?
"Defensively, this team has been a riddle to me all year," Radford coach Ron Bradley said.
Bradley's apparent philosophy is, "When in doubt, go man." The Highlanders defended man-to-man up a storm, holding Liberty (16-13 overall, 9-7 Big South) to no field goals in the last 6 minutes, 11 seconds.
Frustrated?
"This is just another indication that we've got to get better before next Thursday," said Liberty forward Parish Hickman, a bruising Michigan State transfer who scored 20 points and had 14 rebounds but struggled with his shooting by going 8-for-21.
Radford (14-15, 8-8), meanwhile, is going to savor every minute until then as though it were the last bite of a hot fudge sundae.
"Probably for the first time this year, we were the `Never-Say-Dielanders' again," Radford guard Doug Day said, echoing the battle cry of the 20-win 1991-92 team.
Radford was down 29-24 at the break, its lowest scoring output in a half this year. That looked even worse when you consider the Highlanders had lost seven of the 10 other games they'd trailed at that stage. But starting with Day's jump-step layin with 5:07 left, Radford went on a 8-0 roll to tie the score 68-68. Antoine Dalton, a 48.5 percent free throw shooter, had come off the bench to roll a couple in before dunking for the tie.
After the Flames' Jody Chapman made the second of two free throws with 3:01 left for a 69-68 lead, Travis left-handed in a pair of freebies at 2:47 for Radford's first lead. It never trailed again.
Fouls were critical. Liberty had 30, leading to 39 Radford foul shots, 27 of which it made. Don Burgess went 9-for-9 en route to scoring 16 points.
"That was a lack of execution of our game plan," Liberty coach Jeff Meyer said. "We told the players that we needed to defend without fouling."
In fact, Liberty just needed to defend. Radford shot 29.2 percent in the first half before nailing 65.4 percent of its shots (17-for-26) in the last 20 minutes. Tom Gallaher went 5-for-5 in the second half and finished with 16 points. Day had 17 of his 20 in the last 17:11. Point guard Brian Scmall, like Day and Gallaher playing his last home game, had six points and eight assists in 40 minutes .
"We played very good defense in the first half," Meyer said. "In the second half, we had too many lapses."
Perhaps the most damaging blow for Liberty was the loss to fouls of 6-foot-10 Julius Nwosu (25 points, 8-for-11 from the floor, 9-for-9 from the free-throw line). Nwosu was gone the last 4:30.
"I felt real bad just sitting there watching because I put myself in that situation," he said.
The crowd of 4,000, loud as a train station, loved it. Why not?
"That wasn't just any game," Travis said. \
see microfilm for box score