No. 2 Radford Survives No. 10 Longwood to Reach Semifinals
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Not much went to plan offensively for the No. 2 Radford men's basketball team in the Big South Championship quarterfinals, but they overcame a poor day shooting the ball to come away with a 59-53 victory over a resurgent No. 10 Longwood team on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
POSTGAME REACTION
With the game tied at 53 and exactly 53 seconds left on the clock, the Highlanders inbounded the ball and made their way up the court. Five passes and good movement scrambled the Longwood defense, allowing sophomore guard Travis Fields Jr. to drive the lane before kicking the ball out to sophomore guard Donald Hicks.
Hicks received the pass and shot in perfect rhythm, draining his fifth 3-pointer of the game to give Radford a 56-53 lead with 34 seconds to go. Two long threes by the Lancers missed their target and three free throws by the Highlanders sealed the victory.
With the win, Radford advances to the Big South Championship semifinals where they will face the winner of No. 3 Winthrop and No. 6 Gardner-Webb. At 20-12 on the season, the program secures its third 20-win season under Head Coach Mike Jones.
It was an unusual first half for the Highlanders, who shot only 9-for-30 (30%) through the first 20 minutes of action and yet still took a 28-24 lead into the break.
Redshirt senior guard B.K. Ashe got the Lancers off to a hot start, providing 11 of their first 15 points. He shot 4-for-5 including a 3-for-3 clip from beyond the arc to put Longwood in front early, but two quick fouls limited his minutes.
Turning the ball over only two times and causing nine by the Lancers in the period was key for Radford to stay in the game. Three free throws by junior guard Caleb Tanner, followed by a corner three by Hicks, gave the Highlanders their first lead in over 10 minutes at the 8:10 mark.
Radford also controlled the game from the free throw line, knocking down 8-of-11 in the first half while Longwood never got an attempt. A midrange jumper by Fields Jr. as the half reached its end gave the team some momentum for the second half.
Even with that momentum, nothing got easier for the Highlanders in the second half. Longwood's redshirt senior guard Charles Glover drilled a three just 19 seconds into the period to make it a one-point game.
From there it was back-and-forth as both team vied for position ahead of each other. Radford held the Lancers without a basket for the three minutes that follow Glover's shot, but then they themselves were held without a field goal between 15:10 and 9:54.
Radford finally found some success shooting the ball between 8:58 and 4:39 as the team combined to go 5-for-7 in that stretch, turning a two-point deficit (41-43) into a three-point advantage (50-47). One last push by the Lancers managed to tie the game back up at 53, resulting in the exciting finish for the Highlanders.
Hicks led all scorers with 16 points thanks to a 5-for-6 day from 3-point range. Junior forward Ed Polite Jr. stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and a block while Jones reached 13 points and five rebounds despite a 3-for-11 performance from the floor.
Ashe and Glover were excellent for the Lancers, providing 15 points each. Glover had eight rebounds while Ashe grabbed seven. Redshirt junior forward Damarion Geter also had seven rebounds.