Radford downs VMI, headed to NCAA tournament

RADFORD — As the bedlam unfolded around him, the moment hit Kenny Thomas. Minutes after Radford’s 108-94 victory over VMI in the Big South tournament championship game at the Dedmon Center on Saturday afternoon, Thomas mugged for the cameras, pumped his fists and promptly took a seat on the edge of press row.

He put his head in his hands and let it sink in. When Thomas came to Radford, the school was a Big South laughingstock, one that struggled to win 10 games, much less compete for NCAA tournament berths. Thomas, one of three seniors on the roster who endured the tough times of the end of the Byron Samuels era, soaked in the energy. He watched his new coach, Brad Greenberg, talking to ESPN’s crews, the smile on his face a mile wide. He watched the students pour onto the Dedmon Center floor, some covered in red body paint, others waving tiny Belarusian flags in homage to Highlanders center Artsiom Parakhouski.

“It was unbelievable, man. I didn’t know how to feel,” Thomas said. “So many years here just ending tragically, and for it finally to look up for me, it was just like a dream.”

Thomas certainly had plenty to do with it. He scored 35 points in RU’s semifinal victory Thursday night and scored 15 in the championship game. But in a tidy and appropriate microcosm of the entire season, Parakhouski was the difference-maker Saturday.

The 6-foot-11 junior, the Big South’s player of the year, earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 26 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the title game. He was “a house down there,” VMI coach Duggar Baucom said, adding that Parakhouski “has no business playing in this league.”

“He could play anywhere in the country,” Baucom said. “We played (Kentucky’s) Patrick Patterson and he’s every bit as good.”

Radford (21-11) rallied from a nightmarish start. In an interesting reversal of the teams’ regular-season meeting here, VMI (24-8) scored the game’s first 13 points and forced the Highlanders into a timeout two minutes into the game. In the regular-season game, Radford scored the first 13 points but lost by 15.

“VMI gave us their best shot at the beginning of the game,” Thomas said.

Once the Highlanders got a handle on VMI’s pressure, they settled down. Radford used a 21-7 run over the next seven minutes, taking its first lead with 11:14 left in the half on a Parakhouski basket. Radford led 50-46 at halftime, despite the fact that Keydet guard Austin Kenon scored 24 of his game-high 34 points before the break.

VMI took its last lead with 14:22 left in the game on Keith Gabriel’s 3-pointer. Radford responded, not surprisingly, by dumping the ball down low to Parakhouski, who hit a bucket to put the Highlanders up for good at 62-61. As Radford slowly extended the lead, the Highlanders put more pressure on the perimeter, even sending Parakhouski out to defend the 3-point line. VMI shot 25 percent from long range in the second half (7 of 28), and the Keydets couldn’t string together defensive stops.

The game got away from VMI just after the eight-minute mark. Thomas scored to extend Radford’s lead to 76-70 with 7:58 left. Chris McEachin, whose five blocks and three steals made him a defensive nuisance all day, blocked a Michael Sparks layup attempt. Then McEachin got going in transition and got the favorable end of a 50-50 play, scoring a layup with 7:41 left while being fouled, a call that could have gone either way.

Radford led 78-70, and VMI got no closer.

The Keydets forced 27 Radford turnovers but allowed the Highlanders to shoot 55.7 percent from the floor. RU out-rebounded VMI 57-31 Saturday and 122-57 in the last two meetings.

“Twenty-seven turnovers, you know, it’s kind of like the operation is a success, but the patient died,” Baucom said. “We forced the turnovers, but we didn’t get what we wanted out of it.”

After the game, the teams assembled on the floor for the presentation of the all-tournament teams. Greenberg walked over to the VMI bench and shared a few words each with VMI twins Chavis and Travis Holmes. Chavis scored 21 and Travis 12 Saturday, but Greenberg’s gesture was a recognition of what the brothers have done to resuscitate a once-dormant VMI program.

The Keydets used to be “circled as two wins,” Baucom said, on each Big South team’s schedule before the season. No longer. And Chavis Holmes said he doesn’t expect VMI basketball to regress too much, even without the Holmes twins on grounds.

“I don’t think this is the last you’ll see of VMI,” Chavis said. “I’m definitely satisfied with my four years here. I don’t regret anything. We won more games each year I was here. To come into a program like this, and where it was, I can say I’m satisfied with my career here.”

VMI (24-8)

Bell 3-6 2-2 9, C.Holmes 6-12 7-8 21, Kenon 11-23 4-4 34, Burks 0-3 0-2 0, T.Holmes 3-11 5-7 12, Lonon 0-1 2-2 2, Gabriel 4-12 0-0 11, Sparks 2-8 0-0 5, Houston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-76 20-25 94.

RADFORD (21-11)

Johnson 5-10 4-4 16, Thomas 4-10 7-13 15, Martin 3-5 0-0 6, Lynch-Flohr 7-10 3-3 17, Parakhouski 11-16 4-8 26, McEachin 4-13 9-11 18, Wilder 0-0 0-0 0, Hall 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 39-70 27-39 108.

Halftime—Radford 50-46. 3-Point Goals—VMI 16-50 (Kenon 8-19, Gabriel 3-9, C.Holmes 2-7, Bell 1-2, T.Holmes 1-4, Sparks 1-6, Burks 0-3), Radford 3-8 (Johnson 2-3, McEachin 1-1, Martin 0-1, Thomas 0-3). Fouled Out—Bell. Rebounds—VMI 31 (T.Holmes 10), Radford 57 (Parakhouski 18). Assists—VMI 13 (T.Holmes 4), Radford 14 (Thomas 6). Total Fouls—VMI 29, Radford 22. A—3,480.