WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senior center Saliou-Binet Telly scored a career-high 20 points and added 8 rebounds as American used a mid-second half spurt to top Radford, 74-62, in new Eagle head coach Jeff Jones' debut before 1,142 in Bender Arena. Jones is now 8-1 in season openers.

American (1-0) found its defensive clamps and outrebounded RU, 35-30. Senior guard Ronald Hearns who finished with 16 points, 11 coming in the first half. Freshman Jernavis Draughn added 10 points. Keith Gray grabbed 8 rebounds. Sophomore guard Hasheem Alexander dished a career-high 9 assists. AU connected on 15 of 22 free throws for 68.2 percent.

Radford (0-2), which lost its opener at Richmond Friday, shot poorly from the field (37%) and foul line (50%). RU was led by Andrey Savtchenko had 12 points and Raymond Arrington added 17. Correy Watkins gradded 10 rebounds. Jason Williams added 14 points. RU shot just 37.9 percent from the floor. They also committed 18 turnovers to AU's 19.

AU used 18-5 run midway through the second half to pull away. With the game tied 44-44 with 8:35 remaining, the Eagles used the run to go up 62-49 with 4:24 remaining. RU opened the second and after a 40-28 deficit with 16:06 to play, RU went on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 40-40 with 9:25 remaining.

AU took a 30-20 halftime advantage behind Hearns' 11 points. With the score 9-4 RU, AU used a 20-3 run take a 24-12 lead with 3:17 left in the first half

AU travels to West Virginia for a 7:00 PM contest in Morgantown on Tuesday night. Radford will complete three-game season-opening road swing at Siena College on Tuesday at 7:00 PM