Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210181
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
This is college basketball?
Absolutely, as Radford University proved with a precision performance that resulted in a 79-67 Big South Conference victory Thursday.
Campbell lost this physical battle in more ways than one. Not only did a school-record seven-game winning streak evaporate, but point guard Dan Pogue was dealt an ugly little black eye, and - worst of all - star forward Joe Spinks appeared to severely injure an ankle with 18 seconds left while battling for a rebound.
"He's hurt pretty good," coach Billy Lee said of Spinks, perhaps the league's best player. "We're going to take him back home tonight before we get X-rays."
Spinks, who had his second-worst scoring night of the season with 13 points , was going up for the rebound of a missed free throw when Radford's Chris Harvey came down on him.
"I landed on the ankle and rolled it right over," Harvey said. "I heard something pop."
Campbell (9-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big South) was out of it by then anyway, but that was really the first time that could have been said. The Camels faced deficits of as many as 15 points, but proved resilient throughout the evening.
"They kept coming, but we kept coming harder," said Radford guard Damian Ingram.
Radford (11-3, 5-1) moved into first place in the conference standings by winning its fifth in a row and 10th of 11. The Highlanders have won all eight of their home games.
"They're playing very well right now," said Ron Bradley, Radford's coach. "But there's still plenty of room for improvement, and they're going to have to [improve] with these next five games on the road."
That'll be a crucial stretch for the Highlanders, whose travels will take them to preseason favorite Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern and North Carolina-Asheville - none of which Radford has faced this season.
Thursday, the Highlanders continued the stout shooting that has propelled them to first in the nation in field-goal accuracy. The Highlanders made 52.7 percent of their attempts, including 59.3 percent (16 of 27) in the first half. Radford held Campbell to 44.8 percent field-goal shooting, the 13 time in 14 games the Highlanders' opponent has been under 50 percent.
Campbell, however, made seven of 16 3-point attempts, including some late in the game that were bombs.
"Desperation," Ingram said.
Ingram and freshman backcourt associate Anthony Walker combined for 20 points and 10 assists. Don Burgess had 21 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Tyrone Travis added 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
Travis was one of many talking about the physical nature of the proceedings.
"I'm glad this is this year and not a couple of years ago," he said. "The way I used to be, I would have retaliated at some of the stuff that was going on. There were lots of cheap shots."
Radford grabbed Campbell's attention by making seven of its first eight field-goal attempts and 10 of its first 13 to build a 21-13 lead.
With Scott Neely contributing a jumper and layin and Salaam Hall hitting a 3-point rainbow, Campbell's 9-2 run in the last 2 minutes, 32 seconds of the half made it 39-35.
"I felt pretty good because we'd played about bad as we could play and we were only down four," Lee said. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB