Cam Haffner sets career mark against Radford
Junior scored career-high 23 points
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Cam Haffner continued to roll, scoring a career-high 23 points to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Saturday’s contest against Radford.
After leading by as many as 22 in the first half and 18 at the break, the Purple Aces fell to the Highlanders by a final score of 92-81. Evansville had it going from outside, tying the program record with 17 3-point makes. Haffner hit six triples while Gabriel Pozzato and Josh Hughes hit four apiece. Pozzato scored 20 for UE while Hughes finished with 19. Leading Radford was Jarvis Moss, who posted 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
“This one stings. Being up as much as we were at home, you have to win these types of games,” UE head coach David Ragland said after the game. “We need to play a full 40 minutes and have not done that to this point. We need to look in the mirror and get better individually and as a team.”
Radford opened with a long possession, grabbing three offensive rebounds before taking a 2-0 lead. Evansville posted the next three with Gabriel Pozzato knocking down a triple. After the Highlanders battled back to take 10-8 lead, the Aces kicked it into gear. Over the next five minutes, UE went on an 11-0 run to take a 19-10 advantage.
Connor Turnbull scored four during the run while Tayshawn Comer capped it off with a triple. On the defensive side, UE held Radford to 0-for-4 from the field while forcing four turnovers. Kaia Berridge, Cam Haffner, and Josh Hughes added 3-pointers over the next three minutes to give Evansville a 31-15 lead with 8:46 left in the half. Michael Day played a pivotal role during the rally, earning three assists that resulted in nine points.
A quick spurt by RU cut the deficit to 12 before the Aces flexed their muscle once again, doubling up the Highlanders at 44-22 inside of the 5-minute mark. Hughes converted two more triples. Over the final minutes, Radford closed slightly, making it a 50-32 game at the break. Evansville’s outside shooting made the difference as UE knocked down 12 triples in 21 attempts.
Out of the half, the Highlanders came out hitting on all cylinders. Hitting seven of their first nine attempts, Radford scored the first 16 points of the period to get within two points. Evansville missed its first five attempts of the period while turning it over three times. Josh Hughes ended the stretch with a triple. Another three by Haffner made it a 56-48 game, but a tenacious Highlander squad continued to battle.
As the half approached its midway point, a flagrant foul turned out to be a 5-point possession as Radford knotted the game at 67-67. Hughes was the hero once again, breaking the tie, however, the momentum did not last as a triple gave RU the lead with 7:31 remaining. The teams swapped the lead four times over the next two minutes resulting in a 76-75 Highlander lead.
Holding a 78-76 advantage with 4:14 remaining, Radford scored eight in a row over the ensuing two minutes to go up 86-76. Evansville was unable to overcome the deficit, falling by a 92-81 final. Highlighting the comeback for Radford was a 22-for-27 (81.5%) effort from the field in the final 20 minutes as they finished the game shooting 63.6%. UE finished at 50.0% while going 17-for-35 (48.6%) from long range. RU wrapped the day up with a 29-24 edge on the glass.
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