Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411290051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
That was the operative question for the Radford University men's basketball team Saturday night in its season opener against Catholic University.
As in, how many Highlanders would score?
Or, how many 3-pointers would the Highlanders hit?
Or, most importantly, by how many points would the Highlanders win?
The answers were 10, 11 and 41 as Radford routed the Cardinals 100-59.
The Highlanders (1-0) dominated every facet of the game as they won their 15th straight at the Dedmon Center. Besides outscoring their Division III foe, they outshot, outrebounded, outblocked and outstole Catholic (2-2) as well. It also was the 10th time Radford reached 100 points since joining Division I a decade ago.
It was the Cardinals' first 40-point loss in more than a decade - a 117-73 loss to George Washington in 1983-84 - and their first game against a Division I school in six seasons.
Radford had four players score in double figures.
And after Antonie Landsdown hit a 3-pointer 2 minutes, 42 seconds into the first half, Radford led 7-5 and never trailed again.
``I decided to step up after a couple of missed shots,'' said Landsdown, who scored the Highlanders' first seven points. ``We wanted to get off to a quick start. We didn't want to get them thinking that they could be in this game.''
Radford's lead increased to 10 when the Cardinals went into a shooting drought and Chris Harvey and Anthony Walker each scored five points.
``We came out and we didn't want to guard anybody (directly),'' said Catholic coach Mike Lonergan. ``We were playing a sagging man-to-man or a sagging 1-3-1 zone. Except for No.0 [Walker], we put out point guard [Sammy Briggs] on him. Defensively, that worked for about four minutes. Both teams [were] going back and forth. Then I look up at the scoreboard and it's 17-8 (actually 17-7) and we're losing because we can't hit a shot.''
``This is our house,'' Walker said. ``We had to come out and take control. So we just came out and played hard."
For Harvey, his five point spurt was part of a team-high - and career-high 18 points.
``They kept leaving me open,'' said the 6-foot-5 senior forward, whose previous scoring best was 15. ``I didn't have any choice but to shoot. That's all I could do."
Harvey said was left wide open when the Catholic wasn't picking him up on defense after he inbounded the ball.
Included in Harvey's scoring total were a team-high three 3-pointers. This from a player who missed the only 3-pointer he attempted last year.
``Coach [Ron Bradley] has talked to us about shooting a lot more 3-pointers as a team,'' Harvey said. ``We do have a lot of guys who can shoot the ball pretty good.''
That wasn't the only thing Radford got a chance to work on. The large lead also allowed Bradley to experiment with a lot of different lineup combinations.
``We're so young,'' said Bradley, whose team returns only two starters - Walker and Harvey - and five letterman. ``We're just trying to build some momentum. ... This was a perfect season-opening game for us.''
The Highlanders host Centenary College on Monday night before taking to the road Wednesday night at North Carolina State.
Catholic's lone bright spot was John Douglas' game-high 24 points. The Cardinals play at Division I Mount St. Mary's Dec. 3.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB