RADFORD, Va. -- Dan Ross and Chris Oliver each scored 20 points, and Oliver surpassed the 500-rebound mark in his career in leading Radford to its fourth-straight win Thursday evening, defeating the VMI Keydets 101-77 in the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders started the game on a 15-2 run in the opening minutes of the contest, setting the tone early with red-hot shooting from the three-point line to cruise to its fourth straight victory.

With the win, Radford improves to 12-7 on the season, and 5-2 in the conference. VMI falls to 7-11 on the year, and 2-5 in Big South Conference play.

The Highlanders knocked down eight triples in the first half, and took advantage of 12 Keydet turnovers with 20 points off those turnovers. Dan Ross led the three-point barrage for the Highlanders, connecting on 4-7 attempts, for 14 first half points. Whit Holcomb-Faye, the leading scorer in the Big South Conference, also knocked in a pair of threes to help bolster the Highlanders to a 27-point lead in the first half.

The Keydets were paced early on by center Justin Jarman, who scored the Keydets first nine points of the game and finished with a career-high 16 points and also added eight rebounds. Jarmin made his fourth consecutive start for the injured Tadas Mankevicius, who is still recovering from a leg injury.

The Keydets managed to fight back to within 17 after a Travis Holmes triple, but Highlander freshman Kenny Thomas' layup gave them a 50-31 halftime advantage.

The Highlanders finished the half shooting 50% from the three point line (8-16), and a scorching 64.5% from the field (20-31). The Keydets couldn't keep pace connecting on 44% (11-25) from the field, including just 2-9 from the three point line.

The Highlanders came out firing early in the second half, netting the first seven points, and pushed its lead back up to 26. After a relatively quiet first half, Oliver poured in 14 of his 20 points in the half, and went over 500 career rebounds thanks to his nine-rebound effort against the Keydets. Oliver is the leading rebounder in the Big South, averaging 10 rebounds a contest this season, and also ranks fifth in the league in points per game with just under 20.

The Keydet points in the second half came mostly from Fred Robinson, who played in a season-high 18 minutes in the contest. Robinson made the most of his time, netting 14 points behind 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc. The core of backup players saw a majority of the action in the final 20 minutes, and inserted the spark into the lineup that was missing early.

"I was very happy with the guys who played in the second half," said assistant coach Daniel Willis. "They came out and acted like they wanted to be out there, and that's what it's all about. They played with alot of heart and effort, and I can't be more proud of the way those guys played."

VMI again chipped away at the lead, and got as close as 15 on a three-pointer by freshman Craig McCargo at the 13:09 mark, but that would be as close as they could get. The Highlanders would hold on for the 101-77 win.

Radford hit 61.7 percent of its shots from the field, including hitting 48.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Keydets finished shooting 45.2% from the field, and 42.1% from three-point range. The Highlanders owned the rebounding edge, 37-29, while VMI had the advantage in bench points, 39-23.

MaCargo finished with nine points for the Keydets, while Reggie Williams, the conference's third highest scorer, was held in check and finished with seven points in just 20 minutes.

The Keydets concluded its three-game road swing tonight, and will next host conference-leading Winthrop on Monday at 7:00 pm at Cameron Hall. Radford will travel to Birmingham-Southern for a 5:00 pm ET tip-off against the Panthers.