Radford Knocks Off West Virginia in Final Seconds

The Mountaineers drop to 4-7 on the season.

Former Mountaineer Darris Nichols led his Radford Highlanders into the WVU Coliseum Wednesday night and came away with a thrilling 66-65 win.

Team + Individual Stats vs. Radford

Senior guard RaeQuan Battle made his Mountaineer debut after finally getting cleared to play and missing Saturday's game against UMass. Battle struggled to get into a rhythm out of the gate, really pressing on the offensive end. He wasn't the only one. West Virginia, as a team, shot 0/10 from three-point range in the first half and went just 11/32 from the field.

Kerr Kriisa and Quinn Slazinski were nearly non-existent in the first twenty minutes of play combining for a grand total of two points on 1/9 shooting. Noah Farrakhan was West Virginia's most effective player scoring nine points and recording six rebounds.

Fortunately for the Mountaineers, the Highlanders went cold for a three-minute or so stretch toward the beginning of the second half. WVU took advantage as Battle finally found the touch on the offensive end, chipping in 16 points in their run to take the lead. 

West Virginia guard RaeQuan Battle defends Radford guard Bryan Antoine in the first half at the WVU Coliseum.  / Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: Fan Nation - Mountaineers Now

After going up as many as five, WVU let Radford hang around heading into the final minute of play. Down two with 11 seconds left, Bryan Antoine drove it to the bucket and got fouled on the shot. Antoine made the first free throw but missed the second, forcing the Highlanders to foul RaeQuan Battle. 

Battle missed the front end of the one and one, leaving the door wide-open for Radford. DaQuan Smith lost the handle on the ball but regained control just in time and drained the go-ahead shot with 1.5 seconds left. Battle hoisted up a three at the final horn but didn't come close to falling.

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