Radford

Kenny Thomas is Big South Player of the Week

Press Release — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:26:32 -0800

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Radford junior guard Kenny Thomas (Richmond, Va.) and Charleston Southern forward Omar Carter (Charlotte, N.C.) have been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Men’s Basketball Player of the Week and New Balance Freshman of the Week, respectively, for games played from Dec. 3-9, it was announced today by the League office.

Thomas had the best week of his career last week as he averaged 23.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in leading the Highlanders to two wins. He took the reigns and led Radford to a double-overtime win at Gardner-Webb with a career-high 24 points, including 11 of the Highlanders’ 14 points in the second overtime period. He also had four assists and seven rebounds in the game, and was 12-of-15 ( =.800 percent) from the free throw line. In Saturday’s home win over Campbell, Thomas netted 23 points on 8-of-14 field goals, including 5-of-8 from three-point range (tying a career-high for three-pointers). He scored 11-straight points for the Highlanders to spur a 13-4 RU run that gave Radford the lead for good. For the week, Thomas was 13-of-26 from the field ( =.500), 7-of-14 from the arc ( =.500), 14-of-18 from the line ( =.778) and averaged 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals.

Carter registered the third double-double of his young CSU career last Monday against Mercer, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds in CSU’s one-point loss to the Bears. He scored 14 points in the second half while missing one field goal attempt, and hit two key three-pointers down the stretch to give CSU a late lead. Carter finished the night 8-of-14 from the floor ( =.571), 4-of-7 from long range ( =.571) and added two assists and two steals.

Other Player of the Week Nominees: Omar Carter (Charleston Southern), Arizona Reid (High Point), Alex McLean (Liberty), Reggie Williams (VMI) and Michael Jenkins (Winthrop).

Other Freshman of the Week Nominees: Earnest Bridges (High Point).

-BigSouthSports.com-

Big South Weekly Basketball Honors

Press Release — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:00:32 -0800

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Radford senior forward Chris Oliver (Winston-Salem, N.C.) has been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games played Nov. 27-Dec. 3, while Liberty guard B.J. Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) received New Balance Freshman of the Week honors, it was announced today by the League office.

Oliver averaged 27.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in two wins last week, including the Highlanders’ first-ever win at Richmond. He tallied a double-double vs. the Spiders, scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds, while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor (9-of-16) and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. He also tallied six steals and a block in the win. Oliver then posted 30 points and nine rebounds against West Virginia Wesleyan, hitting 72.2 percent from the field on 13-of-18 shooting. He also had four blocks, two steals and two assists against the Bobcats. On the week, Oliver shot 64.7 from the floor (22-of-34), 90.9 from the charity stripe (10-of-11) and posted five blocks and eight steals.

Jenkins averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in Liberty’s two wins last week, including a 64-56 victory over East Carolina. He shot 64.3 percent from the field (9-of-14), 42.9 percent from long range (3-of-7) and 77.8 from the line (7-of-9). Jenkins scored a career-high 16 points vs. Southern Virginia, and added 12 points vs. East Carolina. Against the Pirates, Jenkins also grabbed three rebounds, dished out three assists and notched three steals in 21 minutes off the bench.

Other Player of the Week nominees for Week 4: Donnell Covington (Charleston Southern), Moses Sonko (Coastal Carolina), Mike Jefferson (High Point), Alex McLean (Liberty), Vincent James (UNC Asheville), Reggie Williams (VMI) and Torrell Martin (Winthrop).

Other Freshman of the Week nominees for Week 4: Eugene Harris (High Point) and Amir Johnson (Radford).

UWM 72 - Radford 60

Press Release — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:14:07 -0800

MILWAUKEE - Paige Paulsen scored 27 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a 72-60 win over Radford on the first night of the John Thompson Foundation Classic at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers also got 12 points apiece from Avery Smith and Allan Hanson while forcing 24 turnovers by Radford.

Chris Oliver led the Highlanders with 18 points.

UWM's led 45-43 with 11:53 remaining before it pulled away. A three by Charlie Swiggett and a basket by Smith pushed the lead to 50-43. Ryan Thornton then followed moments later with a three to make it 55-45, and Radford would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way. A jumper by Paulsen gave UWM its largest lead of the night at 66-51 with 3:17 to play and Paulsen added five more points down the stretch to help secure the win.

"I thought we put together a good second 10 minutes of the first half and then in the second half I thought we played well," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "With such a young team, you want guys to just weather some of the ups and downs. I thought we did a pretty good job of that. The effort is there, and the execution is getting better all the time. I know the guys in the locker room feel good, I feel good, and it gets us off to a positive start for this season."

The Panthers recovered from a slow start to build a 30-24 halftime lead. In
fact, Radford scored the first eight points of the game, holding UWM scoreless over the first 5:38. But, Milwaukee broke the ice on a Paulsen tip-in and eventually tied the game at 13 on a three-pointer by Hanson.

Radford scored seven of the next nine points to rebuild its lead to five and
still led 22-18 with 5:08 remaining. But, sparked by three-point baskets from
Hanson and Paulsen, the Panthers finished the half on a 12-2 run to claim a
six-point lead after 20 minutes.

- From UWM Media Relations