ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 TAG: 9612030114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Junk defense, four guards, outside-inside offense, Radford University's team tried it all Monday. Coach Sonny Smith and VCU must wonder if the Highlanders ever play conventional basketball.
Radford showed the Rams the spectrum of unorthodox hoops play in the Highlanders' Dedmon Center opener. Yet, it was the basics - shooting and ballhandling - that ultimately gave the Highlanders a 81-77 victory.
Don't call it an upset, at least not within earshot of Radford coach Ron Bradley.
``We think this is one of the best schedules we've had,`` Bradley said. ``When we made it up, we expected to win every time out, no excuses.``
Radford would have had an excuse, albeit a relatively lame one, had not it clawed back from a 15-point deficit to beat VCU at the Dedmon Center for the second time. The Highlanders simply didn't play worth a hoot for a long stretch in the first half. They were ahead 22-14, but fell behind 41-31 by halftime.
``We got kind of relaxed and it showed there,`` said Radford guard Anthony Walker.
The Highlanders turned it loose in the second half, scoring on 13 of 14 possessions at one point and canning 20 of 30 shots (66.7 percent). The most remarkable part of the whole game was the 3-point shooting. The Highlanders set a Rams-opponent record by making seven of eight 3-pointers. Walker and Corey Reed were a combined 8-for-8 from beyond the arc.
``We did not continue to defend the 3-point shot as we had earlier in the game,`` said VCU coach Sonny Smith.
As lethal as the long-distance shooting was for the city slickers from Richmond, it was one from closer range that was their undoing.
The Rams' beefy center, George Byrd, had converted a three-point play with 28 seconds left to tie the score at 77 and set up Walker's final opportunity. Walker brought the ball upcourt, which he hadn't been doing, and began to kill the clock.
Bradley ``told me to get it down to 10 seconds, then make something happen,`` Walker said.
Walker waited until the proper time, then lofted a jumper from the vicinity of the free-throw line.
``Got to make those,`` he said.
Walker had been making a lot of them, he was 8-for-12. He drilled all four of his 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 20 points and seven assists.
Reed hit six of nine shots and chipped in 16 points. Leslie Ballard had 12 for Radford (2-2).
``We knew that Radford was going to be tough to beat, especially at home,`` Smith said.
Indeed, the last time the teams played at the Dedmon Center, in 1991, Doug Day's 3-pointer at the horn gave Radford a 72-71 victory.
``I told the guys tonight that in that one we had been down 18 points and still came back to win,`` Bradley said. ``I don't know if that was true or not, but that's what I told them.``
It was.
VCU (1-2) had 21 points from guard Patrick Lee and 14 from Byrd. Eventually, the Highlanders went to a triangle-and-two defense with man-to-man chasers in pursuit of Lee and Byrd.
``We had prepared for that and it still turned out to hurt us,`` Smith said.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM Staff. Radford's Mike Petin (left, with handby CNBcoming through the basket) and Eric Parker (right) defend against
Virginia Commonwealth's George Byrd during their game Monday night.
color.