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SPORTS

THE TARTAN Dec. 7, 2011

Mens Basketball drops sixth straight, fall to 3-7 in the 2011 season
AJ NEUHARTH-KEUSCH
aneuharthkeus@radford.edu
After a devastating 40-88 loss to basketball powerhouse Kentucky University, the Highlanders looked to bounce back with three games in the rst six days of December. For the rst of three games, the Highs traveled to South Carolina to face Charleston Southern University. The rst half was a competitive, back and forth battle that ended in a 41-40 lead for RU. RU lit it up from the three-point line in the rst half, shooting an impressive 8-12. They were equally as successful on free throws and shot 9-10. However, the second half looked like a different ball game. The Highs unstoppable shooting didnt carry over to the second half. They struggled in the areas they succeeded earlier in the game. They shot 3-10 on both three pointers and free throws. They were also careless with fouls, resulting in 26 free throws for CSU in the second half. The nal score was 73-83 for CSU. Freshman guard RJ Price led the team in scoring with 15 points. For their second game, RU was on the road again, this time versus Presbyterian College. Unlike in the game against CSU, they shot consistently in both halves. Unfortunately, the consistency was made up of uncharacteristically bad shooting. Although the teams overall shooting percentages werent reputable, a few players made individual impacts on the game. Senior forward Johnathan Edwards was 7-14 on eld goals, with a total of 16 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Blake Smith and freshman guard Javonte Green also played well, scoring a combined 29 points and 10 rebounds on 1221 shooting. Despite the strong play from the three, the Highs fell to Presbyterian, 64-72. After ve losses, RU was certainly motivated to make their return to the Dedmon Center to take on University of North Carolina Charlotte. The Highs had an extra hop in their step during their pre-game introductions. They looked motivated and ready to snap their losing streak. Even though they seemed ready to go, RU found themselves behind 2-12 in the rst few minutes of the game. Head coach Mike Jones was enraged and called a timeout to regroup his team. The team came out of the break looking even more motivated than before. Their defensive pressure escalated and they started forcing turnovers. After a basket by sophomore forward Tolga Cerrah, Javonte Green energized the stadium with a put-back dunk and then a fast break dunk a few seconds after. It was suddenly a onepossession game after an 8-0 run by RU. Everybody on the team was like okay, were here, lets go, were ready to play, said Edwards on the dunks by Green. But, the high-tempo attack didnt continue. By halftime, RU fell behind by nine points. From the beginning of the second half, the Highs struggles continued. The two teams continually traded baskets and the score stayed around a 10-point decit for the rst ten minutes. But once again the momentum shifted. This time it was due to Blake Smith. He pickpocketed the opposition and took the ball down the oor and nished with an emphatic fast break dunk. A few moments later, Smith caught and dunked an alley-oop. The score was cut down to 34-42. However, the momentum wasnt quite enough to put the Highs on top. They couldnt push past a ve-point decit. With about a minute left, the score was 47-52. Typical late game intentional fouling occurred, eventually giving UNCC an eight-point lead. UNCC held on the rest of the way, and eventually won by a score of 57-49 Once we struggled a little bit with making shots their defense clamped up even more, so I give all of the credit to them. They played a great defensive game, said Coach Jones. Edwards and Green were the only two players for the Highs that recorded double digit points. However, Green shot 4-9 from the eld compared to Edwards 4-15. After the game, Edwards said, Weve got to do a better job at coming out. Starting fast and nishing faster. Coach Jones felt the same way, saying that, you cant spot them a 10 point leadI thought that was the difference. The rest of the game was a pretty even game but when they came out and got that run it gave them some condence. The Highs look to make the best of their four-day period of practice and rest before they match up against George Mason University at the Dedmon Center on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m.

COURTNEY EARLL | The Tartan

The Highs are shooting just 36 percent from the floor, while RUs opponents are averaging 43 percent.

VOLLEYBALL: Highlanders look to build on 2011 successes after completing their most successful season of the past decade
From page 7
Myers put it, Liberty was a tough team, but after our close game with them, everyone thought they were beatable. The month of October was full of competitive conference play. Rebounding off of a Gardener-Webb University 3-0 sweep, the Highs had a hard time steadily keeping momentum. The team lost to UNC Asheville in four sets, beat Campbell University 3-1, and then lost to High Point University in a hard hitting ve-setter. Radford caught a second wind when they shockingly won seven out of their last ten games of the season. All but one of the games were conference match-ups. On Nov. 17, Radford began their Big South tournament against the sixth seed, High Point University. After losing to High Point in ve sets earlier in the season, the Highs were ready for revenge. Sure enough, they got it. The Highs drew a clean, 3-0 win to start off the tournament. In the seminals, Radford met second seeded Winthrop. After suffering a tough loss earlier in the season to the Eagles, Radford changed their game plan and ended up winning in a thrilling 3-2 match to advance to the nals of the tournament, something the Highlanders have not accomplished since 2001. Unfortunately, the Flames dusted off the Highlanders in a convincing 3-0 victory to claim the trophy. On the championship loss, Leigh Myers said, Now that weve been to a championship round, and know that its not impossible to reach, I think the girls now know what it takes to make it there again. On top of an exciting end to season play, Radford also scored awards off the court. Despite this being only her fourth year coaching the Highlanders, Coach Jenkins garnered the annual Big South Coach of the Year award. When I took over the program four years ago, my dream was to win a conference championship. I wanted to stick it out. I am a hard worker, Jenkins said. Its not just me; it was truly a team award. If we won the conference championship, I would have thrown my award in the ocean because a team championship means so much more than an individual award. Freshman middle blocker Emma Deininger was named Big South Freshman of the Year. Its an honor, Deininger said. I think it was more of a team thing because, obviously, without my teammates I wouldnt have gotten the award. On top of it all, Deininger was joined by freshman libero Rachel Brummitt in being named to the First Team All-Conference list. Alongside freshman outside hitter Rachel Wiechecki, all three were deemed as all-freshmen honorees. The group of girls this year was one of the most coachable teams I have ever coached, Jenkins said. They wanted to win. They were hungry. Radford Volleyball is looking to continue their success next year, and for years to come. As Emma Deininger put it, We will get better, we will progress. With hard work on and off the court, the Radford Womens Volleyball team is looking to make a strong statement in the Big South Conference in 2012.

WOMENS: Highlanders drop second non-conference game in a row

From page 7
Trailing 65-44 with only about four minutes left in the game, the Highlanders finally pulled an 8-0 run to cut Longwoods lead to 13. From there the, Lancers held them off long enough to finish the game with a 7359 victory. The Highlanders outscored them 41-32 in the second half, but because of the low shooting percentage and the 18 points in the first half, the Lancers were the team that came away with the win. Were just not playing well on the road right now, said Head Coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba after the loss to Longwood. Im not sure what it is, but weve got to do a better job of knocking down shots early on the road. Weve got to a better job of executing our game plan and were just not playing well on the road right now. Radford, for the whole game, shot only 26 percent in field goals, and made only four three-pointers in 25 attempts. Spencer led the team with 19 total points, and Buckhannon was 7 behind her with 12 total points for the Highlanders. We have to come out with a lot of energy, Coach Ngongba said. We have to come out ready to win. We have to understand that on the road, people want to protect home, just like when were home we want to protect home. We have to have a sense of urgency when we get here, and we have to find a way to have more energy so I just obviously have to do a better job of that. Despite the loss, RU is still outscoring their opponents by an average margin of 14 points a game. Erwin-Spencer leads the team with 18 points per game. With the victory, LU improved their record to 2-6, and Radford fell to 4-2. The next matchup for the Highlanders will be on Wednesday, Dec. 7, on the road against Wake Forest.

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COURTNEY EARLL | The Tartan

The Highs have now failed to score 60 points in their past two games, losing by a combined 38 points. Despite the recent slump, RU still holds a 4-2 record on the season.