Even after he had collected his celebratory piece of the net at
the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va., last Saturday, Radford
senior forward Kevin Robinson wasn't sure his last-second shot,
a 10-foot hook that beat UNC-Asheville 63-61 and launched
Radford (20-9) into the NCAA tournament for the first time, had
actually beaten the buzzer. "I wasn't sure I got it off in
time," said Robinson. "I've never won a game at the buzzer, not
at any level."
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Rian Everett gave Radford an assist in winning its
first NCAA tournament berth.
(Scott K. Brown)
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Radford, a former women's teachers college in Virginia, had also
never won a game at this level. The last time the Highlanders
had played in the Big South Conference tournament final, in
1988, they lost to Winthrop 71-56. In seven of the last eight
years they had been bounced from the semifinals.
This time they carried the momentum of a 10-game winning streak
into the final, but then, looking as if they all had spent the
night before like Robinson, who had been too antsy to sleep,
they nearly threw it away. Radford committed 10 turnovers on its
first 23 possessions, missed 13 of its first 15 shots and fell
behind 21-4. But thanks to 6'6" senior guard Corey Reed, who
made four three-pointers—launched in his awkward,
from-throat-level style—and Robinson, who scored nine of his 11
points in the last four minutes, the Highlanders got rid of
their tournament albatross.
When it was over, Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach passed Reed
in the hallway outside the interview room and in a gesture of
conference solidarity said, "Represent us well."
Replied Reed, a coach's son and a chemistry major with a 3.89
grade point average who will start work on a graduate degree at
Virginia Tech next year, "I'll do my best, sir."
Issue date: March 9, 1998
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