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Michael Lasquero | ScoringLiveFebruary 5, 2022, 9:22am
Fri, Feb 4, 2022 @ Radford
MAKALAPA — Leilehua keeps on rolling as it picked up its seventh straight win Friday night.
The Mules jumped out to a 18-7 lead after the first quarter and held off a relentless Radford rally in a 55-50 victory in a key OIA West contest at James Alegre Gymnasium.
Leilehua (7-1 league) also overcame a herculean effort by Tyler Grover, who scored a season-high 31 points to lead the Rams (5-3) in their third straight loss.
Pule Atualevao scored 15 points and had seven assists to anchor the Mules in the win. Malcolm Nichols was also solid with 11 points and three made triples while Austyn Todd had eight points and scored a fast break bucket after picking off a Radford pass to give Leilehua a pivotal 52-48 lead with 25 seconds left in regulation.
"I thought we fought well," said Leilehua coach Chad Townsend. "Radford is a really scrappy team. We jumped out on them quick, but they fought their way back. Good job by (Radford) coach (Travis Armstrong) over there. He's great, that's all I can say. I just give them credit because they fought back, they grinded this game out. Usually we come out fast like that, we start fast and finish fast, but good for Radford."
The Mules' early lead can be attributed to an aggressive defense that pressured host Radford into turnovers. For the game, Leilehua was able to rack up 18 total steals. But the same strategy also allowed the home team to get back into it in the second quarter as foul trouble hampered the Mules, which allowed Radford to be in the double-bonus with 6:34 remaining in the first half.
Leilehua was also whistled for a pair of technical free throws that skewed the amount of free throw attempts in Radford's favor in the first half. The Mules had just eight free throw attempts at the half while the Rams had 24. Leilehua's lead also got cut down to 27-23 at the break.
"We were reaching, it was our fault too … but we're a young team," said Townsend. "They need to know that even if you're getting fouls called against you, you got to keep playing. It's on you guys. We told them that you got to keep the energy up. Sometimes when the ball keeps stopping and stopping like that, our guys lose energy because we're a young squad."
The Rams took advantage of Leilehua's lowered energy in the second half and made it a game. They even tied and took the lead, 38-34, after three consecutive Grover baskets that were all generated off of turnovers. Atualevao's three-point play cut it to a 38-37 game with 1:27 to play in the third quarter, but Grover's baseline jumper pushed the lead back to three.
It looked like Radford was going to take a 40-37 lead into the final stanza after the Mules missed a pair of free throws, but things changed in a hurry.
Nichols knocked down a corner triple to tie the game with 4.8 ticks left in the third quarter and Ashtin Martinson was able to steal the ensuing inbounds pass and get a runner to fall in the lane to give Leilehua a 42-40 lead at the buzzer.
The Mules also extended the run to 9-0 with two early fourth quarter baskets to give them a 46-40 advantage.
"That was huge, because our guys, we're really streaky sometimes," Townsend said of the run that retook the lead for his team. "Sometimes we look great, and sometimes our valleys can be low, but that was big."
Radford battled back however and made it a 47-46 game with 2:45 remaining after a strong take by Hawkins Souffrant. The Rams then tied it on a Caden Williams basket to leave the score at 48-48 with a little over two minutes to play in regulation.
Atualevao made the go-ahead basket for the Mules, using a screen before dribbling around the high post to score in the lane with 1:47 remaining in the game. After Radford dribbled the clock down and called timeout, Todd came up with the timely steal and Leilehua made the necessary free throws to put the game out of reach.
"It was a good game," said Townsend. "With playoffs coming up, you need games like this to test you."
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