First Four: Radford beats LIU-Brooklyn for first NCAA Tournament win

Radford (23-12) advances to play East Region No. 1 seed Villanova at 6:50 p.m. Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Radford used a 14-2 run over a four-minute span to take a lead 49-40 with 12:28 left led by Carlik Jones, Travis Fields Jr. and Donald Hicks. After LIU (18-17) cut Radford’s lead to 59-58, the Highlanders finished with a 12-3 run over the final five minutes. LIU’s last field goal came with 6:47 left.

Fields came off the bench and made three 3-pointers in the second half to tie a season high with 13 points. Ed Polite Jr. also scored 13, Jones had 12 and Hicks 11.

LIU, now 0-7 in NCAA play, was led by Jashaun Agosto with 16 points, Raiquan Clark with 14 and Julian Batts with 13.

Radford was the hot-shooting team early and built a 20-11 lead halfway through the first half. LIU scored 11 points off nine Radford turnovers and chipped away at the lead to trail 30-28 at the half on a 3-pointer by Joel Hernandez. Radford outshot LIU 52 to 44 percent in the half and 47 to 38 percent for the game.