Radford beats Winthrop 61-52 in Big South tourney semifinal

Mar 3, 2018, 03:38 am

RADFORD, Va. -- Carlik Jones had 16 points and six steals, and No. 2 Radford beat third-seeded Winthrop 61-52 in a Big South Tournament semifinal on Friday night.

Radford (21-12), picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll, will host fifth-seeded Liberty (20-13) in the championship on Sunday.

The Highlanders missed their first nine field goals to start the second half and trailed 45-39 with 11:44 to play, but from there Winthrop went cold. Radford answered with a 15-7 run and led 54-52 with 3:45 left. The Eagles missed their last seven shots and two free throws.

Ed Polite Jr. added 13 points and Travis Fields Jr. had 11 for Radford, which snapped a six-game tournament losing streak against Winthrop.

Winthrop senior Xavier Cooks had 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 55.6 seconds left. Adam Pickett also scored 13 points for the Eagles.

Radford shot just 34 percent overall, but made 21 of 26 (81 percent) of its free throws and forced 15 Winthrop turnovers.