Radford steals national spotlight with commanding win at Gardner-Webb

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — The national spotlight was shown on Boiling Springs as Gardner-Webb and Radford faced each other Thursday on ESPNU. 

Unfortunately for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, Radford stole that spotlight as the Highlanders dominated GWU, 90-74.

Radford started the game on a quick 7-2 run before Lucas Stieber hit a three. Both teams kept scoring as Radford led, 13-9, at the first media stoppage. Caleb Robinson then came in the game and scored on a driving layup, and by the time Quest Aldridge hit a deep triple, Gardner-Webb had taken an 18-17 advantage.

Radford responded with a 7-1 run before a DQ Nicholas three-point play. The Runnin’ Bulldogs went on a long drought from the field as Radford built a 14-point lead. Nicholas snapped the skid with a three, but Radford stayed hot from beyond the arc and hit a series of floaters to stretch its lead to 18 points, eventually taking a 53-35 cushion into the halftime break.

Things did not get better for the home team in the second half, as Radford led, 61-35. Ademide Badmus scored on a post move and Robinson converted a three-point play, but GWU could not cut into the deficit. Stieber hit a pair of threes down the stretch, as did Julien Soumaoro, to cut the deficit under 20, but it was not enough.

WHERE IS THE DEFENSE? The 90 points given up by Gardner-Webb was the most surrendered by the team since a 94-90 overtime loss to Akron on December 21, 2023. Radford shot just over 56 percent for the game after shooting a blistering 64 percent in the first half.

“They were able to do a lot of things against us,” GWU head coach Tim Craft said. “They got in the paint (58 points) and were able to hit some tough shots, or get all the way to the rim and get some easy buckets. We came out flat for the first 12-15 minutes and we could never recover.”

5 FOR 5: Radford put all five of its starters in double figures, led by DaQuan Smith’s 24 points. Kenyon Giles had 17 points, while Justin Archer had a big double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which were of the offensive variety.

ALL BETS ARE OFF: Predicting Big South games must drive bookmakers in Las Vegas nuts. Radford entered the night last in the conference, while Gardner-Webb was solidly in third. Upsets in the league are not uncommon, as USC Upstate — who is fighting to avoid the play-in-game — recently upset league leader High Point, and Longwood took down preseason favorite UNC Asheville.

“This league is so balanced,” Craft said. “Radford has the talent to go on a run and win the conference tournament. The same can be said of anybody in this league, including us. It’s so good from top to bottom. Anybody can beat anybody.”

UP NEXT: GWU will have a short turnaround before traveling to UNC Asheville Saturday, looking for the season sweep of the Bulldogs while Radford hosts  Longwood.