Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993 TAG: 9312190020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Highlanders prepared for their Dec. 30 visit to the big cats of No. 25 Louisiana State by snapping up the guppies from Division III Western Maryland on Saturday at the Dedmon Center.
Radford needed neither bicarbonate of soda nor a toothpick after feasting on the visitors 104-62.
Dragan Skoko was an influential player during eight minutes off the bench for the Highlanders, recording career highs of five points and five rebounds.
"I could have done better," Skoko said.
It is never a favorable development for Radford's opponent when this lean Serb takes the floor. Considering he had had scored one point coming into this, his senior year, Skoko's appearance in a game generally indicates that the Highlanders' foe is regarded as a diminished threat.
The Green Terror's road show left the garage in fine fashion, skewering the hosts with leads of 7-0 and 9-1.
Then the Terror became the terrorized.
"When Radford decided to play, there was a [big] difference," said Nick Zoulias, Western Maryland's coach.
Seven of the 14 turnovers the Green Terror committed in the first half provided fuel for a 17-0 Highlanders run. That eruption required 2 minutes, 14 seconds, and would have been noticed by more than next of kin and other loved ones had not most everyone at the university gone home for the holidays.
"Kind of a boring game, huh?" said Radford forward Don Burgess, who provided 20 points and 12 rebounds. "You could have expected it."
For a while, it looked as if the Highlanders were trying to pierce the mental fog of too many allnighters during the final exam death march they had just completed.
"We had kids taking finals right up until 4:30 yesterday afternoon," said Ron Bradley, Radford's coach. "They could use a little rest."
The Highlanders (5-2) got double-figure scoring from six players ACC, Metro roundups. B5 Top 25 roundup. B7 and hit 63.8 percent of their field-goal attempts. Radford squeezed Western Maryland (3-5) into 33 percent shooting.
Nice warmup for those Bayou Bengals, right?
"We have harder practices than that game," said Highlanders guard Jason Lansdown.
Zoulias was afraid somebody would say that.
"This is a nice trip for our kids," said Western Maryland's coach. "We'd like to think we could come back. But Radford might tell us that we don't play well enough to warrant that."
by CNB