Parakhouski leads Radford into NCAA tournament

RADFORD -- Kenny Thomas closed his eyes Friday night, but he never fell asleep. He got up to get a drink, went back to bed, but no luck. All night, the possibilities for yesterday's Big South championship game raced through his mind.

Thomas, a Highland Springs High graduate, was sick of sitting around every March, watching the NCAA tournament, wondering how it would feel if he and his Radford teammates were on that television screen, trying to slay one of college basketball's giants. "Why not us?" he'd ask himself.

He doesn't have to wonder anymore. The Highlanders -- 10-20 last season, 8-22 two years ago -- beat Virginia Military Institute 108-94 in a beehive home-court atmosphere at the Dedmon Center, clinching the school's second NCAA tournament bid 11 years after its first.

"Finally, Radford isn't little ol' Radford for once," Thomas, a senior guard, said moments after cutting the last strand of the net and draping it around his neck.

The Highlanders announced themselves to the nation with a dominant performance from junior center Art Parakhouski, a 6-11 junior-college transfer from Belarus who had 26 points and 18 rebounds and towered over the Keydets, whose tallest player is 6-7.

But Radford also got critical contributions from two players who were around for what Thomas called Radford's "depression when it comes to winning." Junior point guard Amir Johnson, who considered transferring before Radford named Brad Greenberg its coach two years ago, scored 16 points, seven more than his average. Sophomore guard Chris McEachin, whom Greenberg suspended for the first semester because of poor grades, had 18, 10 better than his average.

The Highlanders (21-11) looked lost in the opening two minutes, falling behind 13-0 as they committed four turnovers against VMI's full-court pressure defense. But they responded and led 50-46 at halftime, despite 24 first-half points from VMI's Austin Kenon.

The game turned in Radford's favor for good with 8:17 left. The Keydets (24-8) trailed 74-70 when Keith Gabriel hoisted a 3-pointer. Parakhouski deflected it, leading to a Thomas layup. Radford got layups on its next two possessions and never trailed by fewer than eight after that. The Keydets were doomed by cold shooting from their No. 2 and 3 scorers, Travis Holmes and Kenon. Holmes shot 3 of 11 in the game, Kenon 3 of 11 after halftime.

At the final buzzer, Radford's students, wearing "Dread the Red" T-shirts, streamed out of the bleachers, which were jammed to capacity with 3,500 fans -- a 60-40 split between the two schools, which are separated by 75 miles. "R-U! R-U!" rang the chant from the students, who delayed their spring break trips by a day for the game. A fan handed Parakhouski an orange-and-green Belarus flag that he wrapped around his shoulders. It was 1:30 a.m. back home, where his parents tracked the game on the Internet.

Near the scorers table, Johnson hugged his father, James. Each said nothing as tears streamed down their sweaty faces. James had listened to his son consider transferring, but "I knew that we had to give it a chance," he said as Amir bounced around the court, embracing everybody in sight, game ball in one hand, cell phone in the other. "We goin' dancin', baby!" he shouted into the phone.

The lingering students, sweaty as the players, screamed "Green-berg! Green-berg!" Later, their coach -- a former NBA general manager, now the face of a program resurrected -- exhaled and called this "a remarkable day for Radford."

The Highlanders will learn their NCAA opponent in a week, but it mattered little yesterday as Thomas stood on that ladder, holding those scissors, too excited to remember he was exhausted.

"I didn't know how to feel," he said. "It was just like a dream."

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.