BOX SCORE
LEXINGTON, Va. –
Art Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus) scored 30 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, setting Radford’s single-game rebounding record, and scored his 1,000th career point in the Highlanders’ 111-84 win over VMI on Tuesday night at Cameron Hall.
Parakhouski’s single-game rebounding effort topped Aaron Gill’s 21 in a game.
After needing just 55 games to become Radford’s 26th 1,000-point scorer, Parakhouski hit the milestone with his basket at the 15:28 mark that tied the game at 12-12. He matched the sixth-fewest games in Big South history to reach 1,000 points.
The 6-foot-11 senior had his 18th double-double of the season by halftime and posted the first 30-point, 20-rebound performance in school history.
"We played a hard game and won, and it's all about the 'W'," Parakhouski said. "VMI always plays hard and we just have to do more against them, and we did."
"Art had a monster box score," head coach Brad Greenberg said. "And he did those things courtesy of a lot of good passes from a lot of people. He also did it working aggressively on the offensive glass."
Laz Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia) matched his career-high with 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and
Joey Lynch-Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) posted 13 points and 13 rebounds for Radford (12-10, 8-4 Big South).
Amir Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Quaker Valley) joined four Highlanders to score in double figures with 17 points.
Radford shot 58 percent (44-for-76) from the field, including a season-high 56 percent from the 3-point line (9-for-16), while outrebounding the Keydets (7-14, 2-9) 62-36.
Radford, which led 55-44 at halftime, got 32 of its first half points from the trio of Parakhouski, Lynch-Flohr and Trifunovic.
After trailing by a pair at the 10:30 mark,
Cole Wilder (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) hit a 3-pointer to spark a 21-7 run for the Highlanders. During the stretch that extended the lead to 12, Radford made seven straight field goal attempts including a pair of 3-pointers from Wilder.
"Cole gave us a great boost in the first half by knocking down threes," Greenberg said. "Overall, we did a better job of shooting from behind the arc, and that's a good sign."
The Highlanders outscored VMI 16-7 following the intermission, pushing the lead to 71-51 on Trifunovic’s jumper at 15:47.
VMI, which trailed by as many as 27 points in the second half, shot 35 percent for the game (30-for-86).
"We played good defense tonight against a team that poses matchup problems," Greenberg said. "I'm very pleased with the overall effort, especially getting back on defense quickly and to contest 3-point shots."
The Keydets, the nation's highest scoring team entering Tuesday's game, made 11 of 41 (26.8 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
Michael Sparks scored 19 points for VMI off the bench, including four made 3-pointers, leading four Keydets in double figures. Austin Kenon added 18 points, Ron Burks had 17 and Stan Okoye scored 12.
Radford returns home for a Saturday night (Feb. 6) contest against High Point at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Parakhouski is the fastest (55 games) in school history to hit the 1,000-point mark… Parakhouski’s 20-point/20-rebound performance is his second of the season and third in school history (Andrey Savtchenko – at Purdue 11/21/2001) … Parakhouski has scored in double figures in 24 straight contests … Parakhouski is the 10th player in Radford men’s basketball history with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds … Parakhouski has recorded a 10-point/10-rebound effort in the first half alone five times this season … Radford has won 14 of its last 17 league road games … Radford is 7-1 this season when two or more players record a double-double in the same contest … Tonight was the fourth straight contest against VMI that Radford has had three players record a double-double.