Men's basketball falls in exhibition at Division I Radford
Averett University men's basketball lost 79-34 to Division I Radford University in a game that counted as an exhibition contest for the Cougars Wednesday night at the Dedmon Center.
Averett (2-1), coming off a win at Greensboro College less than 24 hours earlier, matched the Highlanders at 5-5 early on following sophomore Caleb Coleman's 3-pointer at the 16:24 mark. Radford then went on an 11-0 run over the next five minutes. The Highlanders shot nearly 54 percent from the floor in the opening period while pulling out to a 45-13 advantage by halftime.
Radford shot 50.9 percent for the game and made eight 3-pointers, and the Highlanders' size advantage helped them win the battle on the glass 44-33 with seven blocks.
Despite the loss, the Cougars highlights included their defense holding the Highlanders to under 80 points while the Averett offense committed only 12 turnovers. Although an exhibition for Averett, the game counted toward Radford's official season records.
Averett was led offensively by senior Bryson McLaughlin's eight points, while senior Jalen Rowell added six points and a team-high six rebounds for the Cougars, who played 14 players in the exhibition which didn't count toward Averett's record or season statistics.
Radford picked up its second consecutive win over a Division III team from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after topping Bridgewater College 97-46 on Monday. The Highlanders opened the season with a 79-69 road loss at Marquette University before being edged 79-76 at the University of Notre Dame.
Wednesday's meeting between Averett and Radford was the first in the series since the 1976-77 season when the two schools played each other four times in a two-year span. The Cougars and Highlanders were scheduled to face off during the 2021-22 season before the contest had to be canceled.
Averett returns to the court on Saturday at home against Southern Virginia University at 2 p.m.
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