Runnin' Bulldogs Top Radford, 61-55, Saturday Afternoon
December 31, 2011 | Men's Basketball
RADFORD, Va. - Tashan Newsome scored a game-high 19 points - including seven in the final two minutes of play - to lift Gardner-Webb to a 61-55 win at Radford Saturday afternoon.
Gardner-Webb (7-8, 2-1 Big South) got a driving layup from Newsome with 1:43 left to break a 50-50 tie and followed with a Kevin Hartley three-pointer moments later after a steal to lead 55-50 with 1:11 to play. The Runnin' Bulldogs continued a strong defensive half to pull out its third road win of the year.
Hartley and Max Landis each scored 10 points for Gardner-Webb and Donta Harper played well with six points and strong defense that included a pair of key steals. Stefon Johnson added seven points and eight rebounds for the 'Dogs.
Gardner-Webb's defensive intensity picked up steam in the final 20 minutes, limiting Radford to just 8-of-20 shooting (26.7 percent) in that frame.
Radford (3-12, 0-3 Big South) shot 43.8 percent in the first half to lead 33-30 at halftime - getting 21 of its point total from the tandem of Javonte Green (11 points) and Jareal Smith (10 points). Green and Smith combined for just three points in the final 20 minutes, with Newsome and Harper each playing stingy defense to help limit the pair to 1-of-10 shooting in the second half.
"This is a good win over a tough Radford team," said Gardner-Webb head coach Chris Holtmann. "I am very pleased with how tough and smart we played for the last 30 minutes. Our defensive energy was much better in the second half and we made good decisions with the basketball on the offensive end."
Early on, neither team could shake off the rust of Christmas break offensively. Gardner-Webb missed its first five shots of the game and was a cool 3-of-16 in the first 10 minutes of action, and Radford overcame a similar shooting start to build a 19-10 lead - with Smith knocking down back-to-back three-pointers to fuel the rally.
Gardner-Webb was able to hang around in the game on the shoulders of Newsome, who scored 10 points in the opening half - including a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut Radford's lead to 33-30 at the break.
Radford was harassed into 12 misses in its first 14 shots in the second half, and Gardner-Webb slowly worked its way into the lead. The game's competitiveness cranked up with just under eight minutes to play - as five of the game's seven lead changes occurred during a two-minute stretch. Landis' three-pointer with 5:54 left gave Gardner-Webb a 49-48 lead and Newsome made a free throw with 3:24 to play for a 50-48 edge.
A floater by R.J. Price with 2:19 to play tied the score at 50, but Newsome would answer with his driving layup at the 1:43 mark for a 52-50 lead that the Runnin' Bulldogs would not give up.
The lead would grow to 57-50 on a pair of Newsome free throws with 28.0 seconds left and Gardner-Webb would make its last six free throws to preserve the win. Price's bank shot from 22 feet with 4.0 seconds on the clock were Radford's final points of the game.
Price led the Highlanders with 15 points, Smith added 13 and Green added 11. Radford shot 35.5 percent for the game (22-of-62) and made just three trips to the free throw line.
Gardner-Webb finished the game shooting 37.5 percent (21-of-56), had 10 steals and scored 16 points off of 16 Radford turnovers. In addition to his scoring effort, Newsome corralled eight rebounds, dished off two assists (no turnovers), blocked a shot and had a steal.
The Runnin' Bulldogs return to action on Monday night at VMI. Tip is set for 7:00 pm in Lexington, Va.| Box Score (PDF) |
