RADFORD, Va. - Sophomore guard Austin Kenon scored a career-high and championship game record 34 points, but VMI fell to Radford, 108-94, Saturday afternoon in the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Championship Tournament final before a packed house of 3,480 at the Dedmon Center.
VMI fell to 24-8 on the season. The Keydets were also denied a bid for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1977.
Kenon also dropped in a tournament record eight 3-pointers in the contest. Kenon was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior Chavis Holmes who scored 21 points.
Radford (21-11) used its dominating inside presence to outscore VMI 64-22 in the lane and 28-4 in second chance points. The Highlanders were led by tournament MVP Art Parakhouski who scored 26 points and grabbed a tournament record 18 rebounds.
VMI opened the game with a 13-0 run in the game's first two minutes behind Kenon's two three-pointers. But the Highlanders slowly came back and grabbed their first lead of the game at 11:38 on a dunk by Artsiom Parakhouski that made the score 21-20. Amir Johnson pushed the lead to 23-20 with a jumper at 11:05 to cap the 23-7 run that brought Radford back.
Less than three minutes later, Kenon hit a triple to regain the lead for VMI. The teams went back-and-forth until the Keydets went ahead by four points at 33-29 with 7:31 remaining in the first half. Eric Hall tied the game at 33-33 with a layup at 6:33 and the Highlanders moved ahead by as much as eight points at 45-37 on a Parakhouski bucket from close range at 2:55. The Highlanders reeled off 11-straight points during the run, but the Keydets stayed within reach and Kenon closed out the half with a layup to make it a four-point game at intermission, 50-46.
Parakhouski had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, including eight points in the final 6:03 of the period. Kenon led the way with 24 points at the break and six three-pointers. Radford shot 58.3 percent (21-of-36) in the first half as well.
In the second half, VMI's Chavis Holmes tied the game at 54-54 on a three-pointer at 16:19, and the Keydets re-took the lead at 58-56 on Keith Gabriel's layup at 15:20. The teams continued its back-and-forth ways until Gabriel hit a long three-pointer at 14:24 to give VMI a 61-60 advantage. It would be the Keydets last lead of the day, as Parakhouski's jumper at 13:58 gave Radford the lead for good, 62-61, as part of a 14-3 run that put the Highlanders in control. Radford's lead reached double figures with 6:32 remaining and as much as 17 points in the late stages.
Parakhouski finished the game with a Big South Championship game record 18 rebounds, which also ties the Tournament game record mark and earned Tournament MVP honors. He also broke the Big South Conference single-season rebounding record during the game and currently stands at 359.
Joey Lynch-Flohr and Kenny Thomas also contributed double-double efforts for Radford. Lynch-Flohr knocked down 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled in 11 rebounds, while Thomas contributed 15 points and 10 boards. Johnson and Chris McEachin round out the six Highlanders in double digits. Johnson had 16, including his 1,000th career point, while McEachin came off the bench to add 18.
Chavis and Travis Holmes also reached double figures for VMI, scoring 21 and 12 respectively. Travis Holmes had a team-high 10 rebounds. VMI's 16 three-pointers was one shy of the Tournament record.
Joining Parakhouski on the All-Tournament squad were teammates Lynch-Flohr and Thomas, and VMI's Kenon and Chavis Holmes. Parakhouski is the first Big South Player of the Year to reach the NCAA Tournament since Winthrop's Greg Lewis in 2002.
Radford's 108 points surpassed the record for most points in a Big South Championship game and Tournament contest, and the 202 combined points with the Keydets eclipsed the Big South record for most combined points in a Championship game (171). In addition, the Highlanders' 39 field goals Saturday was also a Conference Tournament best. Radford's 27 rebound advantage over the Keydets also set a record in the League tournament.
The No. 1 seed is now 6-4 all-time against the No. 2 seed in the Big South Championship game, and has won the Tournament title for the fifth time in six years. It is Radford's second Big South Tournament crown and the win ends the Highlanders' three-game losing streak in the Conference's title game.
VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
“Congratulations to Radford, they played really well. Art was a house inside. He did a great job inside for them. I'm very proud of my guys for fighting the way they did. I don't think that we played our best by any means, we didn't shoot as well as we could. But you have to credit Radford with their defensive scheme and some of the things they did to really limit our shooter's looks. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. 24-8, the second-most wins in school history, the most conference wins in school history and the guys to my left (Chavis Holmes and Austin Kenon) have been a huge, instrumental part of that, and I'm really proud of them.”
On Art Parakhouski's game:
“I thought he got up and down the court in all three games that we played them, we just limited his touches much better the first time that we played them. We applied more pressure on the ball in the first four minutes, I think they had six turnovers before the first media timeout. After that I thought our energy waned a little bit, we didn't get as good of ball pressure, and allowed him some free looks. When we were up 13-0, there were two loose balls that we should have come up with and we didn't. We could've extended that lead out a little bit. He's a house in there. He has no business playing in this league. He can play anywhere in the country. We played (Kentucky's) Patrick Patterson, and he's every bit as good as Patterson is.”
On inability to capitalize on turnovers:
“At halftime, Willie and Chavis had seven (turnovers) between them, and we were doing things we weren't supposed to do. I think part of that was being in the Championship Game and nerves. But 19 turnovers, we haven't had 19 turnovers in I don't know how long. That's a bit uncharacteristic for us. Some of them were late, but (13) in the first half was certainly too many. I think we forced (17) and we had (13) ourselves (in the first half), and that's not the way we're supposed to play.”
Radford Head Coach Brad Greenburg
“This is a remarkable day for Radford and VMI is most deserving of their accolades, and congratulations to them on a fantastic season. They have wonderful kids and a great coach. It's hard to see anybody lose a game like that when both teams played their hearts out.”
“It's a wonderful day for us. These guys are a great group of kids. They not only aspired to do this, but they actually did the work. Our staff, has been together for two years and they are unbelievable as well.
“It is a tremendous luxury to have three big guys like Art [Parakhouski], Joey [Lynch-Flohr], and Eric [Hall]. Art is big and strong. Joey is just so strong and aggressive, and Eric comes in and changes the game. We didn't run a single play all game. Our goal was to go inside. When you play against that press, you have to make plays and be aggressive. Our strategy was to break the press and have our big guys run to the basket.”
“It hasn't sunk in yet, what we just did. I mumbled to one of our assistants that, wow we are going to the NCAA Tournament!”
