It was a game the Tribe could have won. The play in the first part of the second half was much better, but we struggled at both ends in the last few minutes. There has been improvement, but not enough being short-handed to win either Saturday or Thursday. That, being said, Radford was pretty good.

I still think the key to the long term success of the team will be defensively. While it was nice to see Jihar make some shots and for LJ and Chase to continue their fast progression, the defense is still where significant gains have to be made. When teams continually shoot 60-70 percent, it is not all hot shooting. The difference is we now appear to have some guys quick enough to guard the dribble penetration and guys tall enough to rebound. When Milon, Rowley, and Pierce are fully healthy, we have enough shooters and plenty of guys who can get a good shot within the offense. That is even without considering how good offensively Nathan is and continues to be.
But, in order for the team to be at the top of the CAA and to win in March, they have got to be able to get stops and rebounds at the defensive end. In all of the last 4 games, there was an opportunity to seize the game with the lead in the 2nd half. As long as we don't defend, we won't get the 12 to 14-0 runs that help break a game open. Not discouraged though, I see real potential and improvement showing. Also, Nathan played very hard, very well and very smart last night. He just needed some of the inside defensive help that Pierce or perhaps Harvey can provide when the team is fully healthy. I think all the guys will benefit later in the season for this early season challenge with lots of minutes. The injuries over the last 2 games have also given more minutes to Jihar and Luke/Thornton which hopefully will help all of them. No easy games though except for William Peace possibly all year. So the testing will continue.