BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb dropped another tight Big South Conference game Wednesday night, falling to preseason favorite Radford by a 67-64 margin in Paul Porter Arena.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (5-10, 1-2 Big South) got a career-high 27 points from Nate Johnson, but his three-pointer with less than a second left was short after contact near the home bench. After initially ruling the game over, replay showed that 0.4 seconds remained and Gardner-Webb had another chance.

Jose Perez got an open look from the right wing, but his three was off the mark at the horn and Radford (7-7, 2-0 Big South) captured a key road win.

Gardner-Webb controlled the first half, shooting 6-of-18 from long range – primarily off the fingertips of Johnson. The Miami, Fla., junior had 17 points by intermission and the home team held a 33-27 lead.

Kareem Reid nailed a three early in the second half to push that lead to 39-31 with 17:13 to play, but the Highlanders responded with a game-changing rally – going on an 11-0 run to go in front 42-39 with 14:21 left on a Travis Fields, Jr., layup.

Jaheam Cornwall stemmed the tide with a pair of free throws, but Gardner-Webb would not be able to pull even the rest of the way. The Highlanders would lead by as many as six points down the stretch – and Gardner-Webb got within a single point twice midway through the half – but could not make a final push back in front.

Gardner-Webb's cool shooting returned in the second half, as the 'Dogs finished just 10-of-32 after the break (31.3 percent) to negate a solid start to the game. GWU shot 37.7 percent overall (23-of-61), made 13-of-34 from long range (38.2 percent) and held a slight rebounding edge (37-35).

GWU was just 5-of-11 at the free throw stripe and had just one player – Johnson – in double figures scoring. Cornwall finished with nine points while Ludovic Dufeal, Reid and Perez each had seven. 

The post duo of Dufeal and Reid did not miss a shot (6-of-6) and each made a three-pointer in the second half. Both also blocked two shots in the game.

Radford got 16 points from Fields, 11 from Carlik Jones and 10 from Cle'Von Greene in the win. The Highlanders heated up to shoot 60.0 percent for the second half (15-of-25) and finished at 48.1 percent for the game.

Gardner-Webb will hit the road this weekend, traveling to face a streaking Winthrop team at 7:00 pm in Rock Hill, S.C. The Eagles (9-7, 3-0 Big South) sit in first place after whipping High Point on Wednesday night.