Jones honored by Big South
Putting an exclamation mark on 2017, redshirt freshman guard Carlik Jones has been named Big South Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon.
With the award, Jones becomes the fourth player in program history to be named Big South Freshman of the Week four or more times, joining Amir Johnson (2006-07), Whit Holcomb-Faye and Anthony Walker (1993-94). Just 21 different Highlanders have ever earned the distinction and only nine have earned it multiple times.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native has established himself as one of the top freshmen if not one of the top players in the Big South and he showed why in Radford’s conference opener at Presbyterian on Saturday. He went 6-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from 3-point range to score 16 points while adding six rebounds and a season-high five assists.
Two Hokies place on mat
Freshmen Mekhi Lewis and Stanley Smeltzer both placed while wrestling unattached for Virginia Tech at the Southern Scuffle on Tuesday night in Chattanooga.
Lewis, who was seeded sixth at 165 pounds, placed fourth while Smeltzer placed eighth at 184 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Cody Hughes also wrapped up his day on Tuesday at 174 pounds as he finished 3-2 at the tournament.
Lewis started Tuesday with decisions over Duke’s Zach Finesilver and Northern Colorado’s Keilan Torres. The Bound Brook, New Jersey native then clinched a spot in the third-place bout with an impressive 13-4 major decision over Lehigh’s Gordon Wolf.
In the third-place match, Lewis would once again face Lock Haven’s Chance Marsteller, who Lewis had fallen to in the quarterfinals by a 3-1 decision. Lewis appeared to have converted on a takedown with under 1:30 left in the third period that would have given him a 6-4 lead but the call was challenged and reversed. Marsteller would go on to eek by Lewis once again after he got a takedown with the clock expiring, picking up a 6-4 decision.
Smeltzer clinched his spot on the podium with an impressive 25-10 tech fall over Stanford’s Judah Duhm. He finished the tournament 3-3.
