February 24, 2008
What a great week--two big wins for the Highlanders!
On Wednesday, we beat 2nd place UNC Asheville 62-53. Our 2nd half defense against the Bulldogs was the key to the win. UNCA shot just 13.9% from the field in the 2nd half making 5-36 from the field. They missed all 16 of their three point attempts. To be perfectly honest, UNCA missed a lot of makeable shots in the 2nd half. But when they did, Eric Hall (career high 16 rebounds, 11 defensive) and Martell McDuffy (career high 10 rebounds, 9 defensive) cleaned the glass. For the game, we held UNCA to .317% for the game - a big difference from our first game against them when they made .60% of their shots. Also noteworthy, was the bench help we got from freshman Nick McFarlin and sophomore Phillip Martin. With the win we surpassed last year’s overall wins (8) and conference (3) win totals.
Saturday afternoon was Senior Day for three special Highlanders. We honored and started Colby Trent, Duane Ricks and Tyler Kleckner in their last regular season Dedmon game. Colby, Duane and Tyler have been solid leaders and fantastic teammates. Unselfish and consistently positive, I can’t thank them enough for the team first attitude they have helped foster in the locker room and on the court. And on Saturday, they helped us get off to a strong start against VMI with a combined five points in the first 4 minutes of the game in another winning overtime thriller. Joey Lynch-Flohr played perhaps his best all around game of the year with 17 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Martell McDuffy made some clutch field goals in the last few minutes of regulation to help our comeback and force overtime. Martell stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 6 rebound, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. Freshman Alex Gynes had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Kenny Thomas made clutch free throws in OT (he was 5-5 on the day) to seal the win and finished with 13 points. And Amir Johnson played all 45 minutes of the game directing the team, handling the ball against full court pressure and defending the backline of our 1-3-1 zone. He had 17 points, 4 assists and 5 steals. For the record Amir has played every minute (all 205) of the last five games. VMI took 45 three pointers and made only 10. For the game they shot just .40% from the field.
We have held our last eight opponents to .39% shooting from the field. And our last two opponents shot a combined 13-66 on three point attempts. That’s good stuff!
Thanks to all the fans who made it to Dedmon to support your Highlanders this season. And thanks again to the parents of our players for the way you have encouraged and supported our team and staff all season. It is very cool to see our young men walking a bit taller after a win, enjoying the moment with loved ones. I know it means a lot to Joey Lynch-Flohr to see Mary Jo Lynch and David Flohr at so many of our games. And Amir's Dad, Jim Johnson was in town from Pittsburgh this week as well. FYI - Attendance was way up this year averaging over 2,000 people a game.
It’s great to go into the last week of the regular season in a position where the upcoming games have real importance. We travel to High Point on Wednesday and to Liberty on Saturday. It's still possible for us to earn a Big South Tournament 1st round home game. If we win the next two games and end up in 4th place you will get one more chance to see us at the Dedmon Center.
If you know someone who would enjoy reading B-RadHoops please pass this along.
Go Highlanders! Brad
February 17, 2008
Some people may find it hard to believe how excited I am about the future of Radford basketball. Especially if they know after a modest three game winning streak, we lost our last two games.
The disappointment of losing to Coastal Carolina 65-61 last Monday is real, in light of how well we defended for the first 35 minutes of that game. For the game we held CCU to just 33% from the field and 23% from beyond the arc.
On Saturday night facing league leading Winthrop, we were a much better foe than we had been the previous month even though we lost. Getting Joey Lynch-Flohr the ball inside against the Big South’s best defense was the game plan. Joey had his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Winthrop has an all-league senior backcourt tandem of Michael Jenkins and Chris Gaynor. Amir Johnson more than held his own against them with 21 points and 5 assists. The fact that Joey and Amir are sophomores are two of the reasons I think the future bodes well for us.
Sunday I went to Roanoke College to watch an ODAC game between the Roanoke Maroons and Hampden Sydney. I was impressed with the size of the crowd and the quality of play. I love being able to go watch a college game live. The rosters of both teams were filled with former local HS players including Franklin County’s Ty Sigmon who also happens to be the son of former RU player Neal Sigmon, and Roanoke Catholic’s Turner King who also happens to be a former teammate of RU’s Phillip Martin.
We only have two home games left and if you knew how much it meant to our players to have the stands filled with enthusiastic fans, you would make every effort to be there. We’ve had lots of loyal attendees this season and we appreciate it. We even had Reggie and Betty Austin, the parents of future Highlander Aaron “Bleek” Austin join us for the Winthrop game. With only four league games remaining, the conference standings are still up for grabs. On Wednesday, we host UNC Asheville and on Saturday, VMI. Hope to see you there.
Go Highlanders!
Brad
If you know someone who would enjoy reading B-RadHoops please pass this along.
February 10, 2008
It was a good week to be a Highlander. Eight days ago, on Saturday February 2, we got our first Big South win beating Liberty as part of a special RU Homecoming weekend. This past week, we had two more wins.
Radford 108 – VMI 102 – OT
Tuesday in Lexington, VA, we lost Martell McDuffy to an injury in the second half, but won the game in OT. Freshman roommates, Chris McEachin and Alex Gynes combined for 28 points and 11 rebounds. There were 18 points apiece from Joey Lynch-Flohr and Kenny Thomas, 10 rebounds from Eric Hall, eight Amir Johnson assists, and 20 points from Martell McDuffy before he tweaked his ankle. We jumped out to a 22-4 lead, but got careless with the ball and allowed VMI back in the game before halftime. A hot shooting Keydet group made 19 of 49 three pointers in the game and lead us by double digits midway through the 2nd half before we managed to tie the game late. We scored first in OT and made free throws down the stretch to hold on. Our 55-28 rebounding advantage and 41-68 = .594% field goal percentage were key to defend them into a 41% shooting nite.
Radford 78 – Charleston Southern 69
With Martell McDuffy still hobbled by an ankle injury and Cole Wilder out with a sprained wrist,
Amir Johnson played 40 gutty minutes recording a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. But his near flawless ball handling against CSU full court pressure was even more important than his point or rebound production. Amir also did a very good job at the defensive end against CSU’s Jamarco Warren who came into the game averaging almost 15 a game and ended up with just 9 Saturday nite. Phillip Martin started in place of Martell and played a solid all around game with a career high 12 points, 5 rebounds and just 1 ball-handling miscue in 30 minutes of action. Eric Hall had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. Kenny Thomas kept producing from the perimeter and the free throw line finishing with 24 points, but his 8 rebounds and 4 assists were huge. And the 22 minutes Alex Gynes gave us were instrumental --he tied his career high of 14 making all 6 of his field goal attempts. Our defense was especially good in the 2nd half, holding CSU to .31% from the field and just .34% for the game. We took care of the ball and committed just 9 turnovers for the game…a season low for us.
So we now stand at 3-5 in the league and 8-15 overall. And those win totals match last season’s final numbers. As a team we‘ve made strides defensively and that’s helped us hold opponents to a lower shooting percentage. As a result, we are in better position to rebound and there are more missed shots to pursue. We’ve also gotten better production from some bench people- Martin, Gynes and McEachin to add depth and afford us a better rotation to rest starters and ensure the necessary focus and defensive intensity for winning basketball.
The challenge now is to keep making progress. To stay hungry. To make every day, a day to get better individually and as a team. As a young coach just out of college I remember being a fly on the wall in the company of a coaching roundtable. The conversation centered on the most important attributes players and teams should strive to possess. Coach Wooten was firm stating CONSISTENCY. We want to now show consistency in the areas where we have shown improvement. No turning back now. We are capable of playing good team defense. We are capable of executing intelligently on offense.
We have won three in a row and have a home game Monday night vs. Coastal Carolina. If you are in the area, come on out to Dedmon and support our team. We have only three more regular season home games. Our goal is to win enough of the remaining six league games to get a fourth home contest…..the opening round of the Big South Tournament as one of the top four seeds. Nine days ago nobody thought that was a possibility. I am very proud of our players for playing their way into that position.
Please forward this anyone you know who wants to keep up with RU men’s basketball.
The community of people who follow and care about RU Basketball is growing north, south, east and west.
Charlie & Jane Cash who forsake their orange and blue for some RU red and white. Gail and James Patterson who did double duty Saturday donning Chicago maroon and burnt orange in the afternoon before sporting Dread the Red shirts in the evening. Suzie and Rachel Landis from Richmond. Mer Bear and Christine-leaders of the Blacksburg HS RU fan club. Bobby Joe Heck and Jeff Sacks from Philly. Alan Srebnick from South Florida, Tom Lowery from the Pacific Northwest and Jon Zuckerman from Larchmont, NY. Thanks for all your support and encouragement.And special thanks to Dr. Betty Dore, RU’s NCAA Faculty Representative for all the good karma she exudes at every game and whenever our paths cross on campus.
Go Highlanders.
Brad
February 4, 2008
Reflecting back on the weekend one last time I feel it's important to recognize those former players and the coach who honored us by participating in the Alumni Game and Homecoming. Seeing former teammates sharing stories of old times and catching up was great to witness. To a man, they spoke of their affection for Radford University, their appreciation for what their years at RU has meant to them and how sincerely they enjoyed the weekend and the chance to re-connect with former teammates. I would be remiss if not also recognizing Athletic Director Robert Lineburg who was instrumental in setting up the Alumni Game. Thanks!
Here's the list of who made it to Radford for Homecoming and the game.
Raymond "Peanut" Arrington
Stephen Barber
John Belt
Tim Blake
Tim Blassingame
Eric Bowens
Anthony Brown
Bruce Bruffy
Ryan Charles
Eddie Cottrell
Antoine Dalton
Tom Gallaher
Aaron Gill
Mike Hornbuckle
Brandon Jeffers
Chibi Johnson
Biff Medlin
Corey Reed
Joey Rein
Kevin Robinson
Ron Shelburne
Neil "Stick" Sigmon
Steve Sowers
Chuck Taylor
Correy Watkins
Johnnie Watkins
Travis Wells
And the coach - Chuck Taylor.
Go Highlanders!
Brad
February 3, 2008 – Super Bowl Sunday
We got better this week. We rebounded – really rebounded! And we got our first Big South win.
On Monday Kenny Thomas made a clutch 3-pointer with 30 seconds left against High Point to put us up by 2. But High Point’s Mike Jefferson made a game winning 3 with 15 seconds to beat us. We had a chance to win it on an Amir Johnson pull-up in the paint, but it was off the mark. The game tape revealed that prior to Jefferson’s game winning shot; the referees missed a High Point backcourt violation that would have given us back the ball with a two point lead with the clock at 20 seconds and a chance to ice the game. Our effort in the game was outstanding. We outrebounded High Point 43-29 (19 to 6 on the offensive glass) made 6 more field goals than High Point and only turned the ball over 11. Eric Hall had his second double digit rebound game of the year with 11; Martell McDuffie had 18 points and seven rebounds and made 4 of 5 threes. Joey Lynch-Flohr had 11 points and eight rebounds. And Amir Johnson dropped eight dimes and had five steals.
Homecoming--What a weekend, and what a game! This was RU’s first homecoming around an athletic event and it was a huge success. It was a double header with the women and included tail gate tent parties before and after the games. Martell McDuffy played 40 gritty minutes, tied his career high with 22 points and hit two free throws to give us the cushion to close the win 89-88. Kenny Thomas scored 16 and Joey Lynch-Flohr had 8 rebounds. Alex Gynes, Chris McEachin, Phillip Martin, Nick McFarlin and Jamar Jenkins all came in and contributed. We worked hard on defense. We outrebounded Liberty 42-28 (15-6 on the offensive glass), shot 49% from the field and made 43% of our threes. And Amir Johnson had an outstanding game with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He also made 9 of 10 free throws. But it was his incredible diving save of a loose ball that resulted in an Eric Hall 3-point play that was the play of the day in my book. He ended up flying over press row and landed ironically at the feet of my brother Seth, son Cory and daughter Ali. Seth wasted no time in aggressively counseling him to get back on his feet and back on the court! And he thought his coaching was over after his Hokies beat UVA in OT earlier in the day.
On Saturday at half-time, the 1998 Big South championship team celebrated their 10th anniversary and was honored. What a great group of guys. On Friday an alumni basketball game was held and our players watched some former RU stars grace Dedmon. On Saturday members of the championship team watched our morning shootaround and video scouting report on Liberty. And most importantly they addressed the team and shared thoughts on what Radford means to them and I believe it helped motivate our players that evening. Having so many former players back this weekend involved in the Alumni game and Homecoming was very special for our staff and team. Their support means so much to us.
Next up is VMI in Lexington on Tuesday.
Please forward this anyone you know who wants to keep up with RU men’s basketball.
Go Highlanders.
Brad
