Radford Unable To Overcome First Half Deficit

MORAGA, Calif. -- Radford men’s basketball was again unable to overcome an early deficit, falling 67-63 to UC Davis in the consolation game of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic at McKeon Pavilion on the campus of St. Mary’s College. (Box Score)

It was the second straight game in which RU (5-6) had to overcome a large first-half deficit. Radford overcame a 21-point deficit in the first game of the tournament, only to lose in the final few minutes to host St. Mary’s, 72-60 on Tuesday.

UC Davis (5-7) jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the game’s first 12 points. The Aggies pushed the lead to 18-4 on a trey by Fowzi Abdelsamad at 13:04. Radford, whose first four points came at the line, finally scored from the field on a layup by junior Whit Holcomb-Faye (Winston-Salem, N.C.) at 11:18. Ryan Moore followed that with a three-pointer to give UC Davis its largest lead at 15. The highlander then began to chip away, getting the lead down to 27-24 on a pair of free throws by senior Brandon Jeffers (Baltimore, Md.) at the half.

Radford took its first lead, 31-30 with just under 17 minutes to go in the second half on an 18-footer by senior Olumuyiwa Popoola (Gardena Calif.). The Highlanders would hold a one-point lead on a couple of occasions before the Aggies pushed the lead back to 10 on a jumper by Maidson Butts at the four-minute mark. RU made one last run, closing to within three on a trey from Jeffers with 20 seconds remaining, but that would be all the scoring for RU.

Radford placed four players in double figures. Jeffers paced RU with a career-high tying 19 points. Sophomore Reggie McIntyre (Piedmont, S.C.) scored 15 and Holcomb-Faye tallied 13. Sophomore Chris Oliver (Kernersville, N.C.) rounded out the RU double figure scoring with 11. Oliver pulled down six rebounds to lead RU on the glass.

UC Davis was led by Moore’s 25 points and six rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting. Abdelsamad and Butts each had 10 for the Aggies.

The Highlanders begin Big South Conference play after New Year’s day, opening on the road at Birmingham-Southern at 8:00 pm (ET) on Jan. 5. UC Davis will play an exhibition against Menlo College on Jan. 5 at 10:00 pm (ET).