Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402210150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Highlanders won their 12th game without a defeat at home by recovering in the second half to beat Coastal Carolina 80-64 on Saturday night in a Big South Conference men's game.
With that, Radford rinsed the sour taste of a 73-56 pasting at Campbell on Thursday from its mouth.
"We didn't necessarily play bad at Campbell, but shots we normally make didn't fall for us there," Highlanders guard Damian Ingram said. "Coach [Ron Bradley] told us there wasn't anything we could do about shots not falling. What we can control is our intensity, and tonight it was better."
The victory left Radford (18-6 overall, 12-4 in the Big South) second in the conference standings, a game back of Towson State in the loss column.
Coastal Carolina (14-9, 9-6), which has been to the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years, shot 21.9 percent (7-for-32) in the second half and 39.3 percent for the game.
"We had no production out of our two centers," said Russ Bergman, the Chanticleers' coach. "We can't count on KeKe Hicks and Joey Hart to carry the team all night."
Hicks tried by scoring 30 points, including six 3-pointers. Hart, Coastal Carolina's other starting guard, added 11, but the rest of the team combined for 23 points.
"Hicks doesn't care where he is or whether you have a hand in his face or not," said Raford's Johnny Watkins. "But I think he might have been trying to do too much."
The Chanticleers were without their second-leading scorer, Mohammed Acha, declared ineligible by the school pending an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations.
"I've seen a lot of situations where a team loses a guy and feels like they have something to prove," Bradley said. "The Bulls have lost [Michael] Jordan, but they still have some guys who can play."
Radford took over in the second half and rapidly pulled away by shooting 61.5 percent. The Highlanders looked splendid. Bergman couldn't say the same for his guys early in the half.
"Totally brain-dead," he said.
Anthony Walker and Don Burgess danced on the Chanticleers' grave, with Walker contributing 28 points and Burgess adding 18 points and seven rebounds. Tyrone Travis had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Coastal Carolina looked somewhat out of sorts at first but soon warmed to the task behind Hicks, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half on 3-pointers (4-of-6).
The Chanticleers trailed for the first 10 minutes, but an 11-6 run keyed by Hart's two inside baskets put them up 23-18, the biggest lead of the half for either team.
by CNB