RADFORD, Va. – Gardner-Webb rallied late to pull within a single point, but could not pull out a road win in a 70-66 loss at first-place Radford Thursday night in a key Big South Conference tilt.

Gardner-Webb (11-13, 6-5 Big South) lost its fifth in a row on the road, despite 22 points from David Efianayi, a career-best 19 points from Jaheam Cornwall and 13 points from Liam O'Reilly.

The Highlanders (15-9, 8-3 Big South) got 22 points from All-Big South forward Ed Polite, Jr., but had to withstand a furious Gardner-Webb rally to hold on. Radford used a 19-4 run midway through the second half to regain the lead and pull ahead by double figures.

Gardner-Webb went without a field goal for nearly six minutes during that run, but had one more rally of its own.

Down 63-52 after Radford's big surge, the Runnin' Bulldogs went on a 14-4 run to pull within a single point with less than a minute remaining.

O'Reilly grabbed a rebound after a good defensive possession and raced the other way for a layup – trimming Radford's lead to 67-66 with 37.4 seconds left to play.

Those were the last points Gardner-Webb would score, as the Highlanders made three free throws down the stretch to hold the lead.

After Christian Bradford made two free throws with 21.7 seconds left for a 69-66 lead, O'Reilly rose up for a three-point try off a screen with 8.2 seconds left – but his shot was short and Radford rebounded the miss. 

Randy Phillips was quickly fouled and missed the first off the back iron, but made the second cleanly to give his team a two possession edge.

Cornwall's last-second trey was off the mark and the Highlanders earned a split in the season series.

After trailing for much games first 25 minutes, Gardner-Webb rallied with just over 15 minutes remaining in second half, going on an 11-4 run to take a 47-44 lead at the 11:54 media timeout.

Cornwall made two free throws and drained a three in the spurt, and dished off an assist for a transition three from O'Reilly to cap the rally. Efianayi also had a three-point play in the run, bulling into the lane for a layup and foul to answer a Radford score.

The lead stretched to 48-44, but Radford got five in a row from Polite, including a steal and reverse dunk to go up 49-48 with 10:05 to play.

A layup by Phillips sent the crowd into a frenzy and forced a Gardner-Webb timeout as the run grew to 7-0. Another turnover moments later led to a Polite three-pointer from the top of the key with 9:05 remaining, and the Highlanders led 54-48.

A pair of O'Reilly free throws stemmed the tide, but Carlik Jones stepped into a three-pointer with 6:28 left to put his team up 57-50.

Another Jones bucket in traffic pushed the lead to 60-50 and the Highlanders would lead by as many as 11 points down the stretch.

Gardner-Webb got a layup and free throw from Efianayi with 4:12 left in the game to trim the lead to 63-55 – the visitors' first field goal since the 10:51 mark.

Two more free throws and a transition three from Cornwall cut the lead to 63-60 with 3:21 remaining, but Radford made three-straight free throws to go back up by six with 1:47 to play.

Cornwall was fouled out front and made two more free throws of his own and trimmed the lead to 67-64 with a driving layup with 1:17 on the clock. O'Reilly then cut the lead to 67-66 with his race to the basket with 37 seconds left.

Radford shot 52.0 percent in the opening half and 51.1 percent for the game (24-of-47). In addition to Polite, the Highlanders got 11 points from Phillips, nine from Bradford and seven each from Jones and Leroy Butts IV.

Gardner-Webb finished at 46.5 percent for the game and made 21-of-23 from the charity stripe. The 'Dogs also held a slight rebounding edge in a battle between two of the Big South's top rebounding teams – but fell victim to 19 turnovers that turned into 23 Highlander points.

Cornwall made his first four field goals on Thursday night, giving him 11-straight made shots in league play – dating back to a 7-of-7 performance at home vs. Longwood on Saturday. He finished 4-of-5 from the floor, with his lone miss a desperation three just before the final horn. The Brooklyn, N.Y., freshman also made 8-of-8 shots from the charity stripe.

Efianayi was 9-of-9 at the line en route to his 22-point performance.

Gardner-Webb will have a tough home test on Saturday, hosting a resurgent Charleston Southern squad at 3:00 pm in Paul Porter Arena (Big South Network).