The Longwood Lancers fell to their bitter in-state rivals Radford, 71-69. A last-second shot from the Highlanders broke the hearts of the 3,000-plus fans packed into the Joan Perry Brock Center on Saturday. Longwood (16-9) has now dropped three straight games and sits 5-5 in the Big South after sitting at 5-2 just two weeks earlier.
Radford (16-10, 6-5 Big South) sprang out to an early lead, with Longwood shooting poorly from the field after the first eight minutes, just 4 of 10. Most of the wounds Longwood dealt with were primarily self-inflicted as the turnovers and missed rebounds kept piling up. The visiting Highlanders capitalized on the errors by Longwood and made open 3s over and over again. At the half, Radford led the Lancers 38-32, the big difference being 3-point shooting.
The Highlanders made six deep balls in the first half, while the home side converted only one. Sophomore guard Colby Garland led the Lancers with 10 points at the half, while guard Brandon Maclin led the visitors with eight.
Longwood seemed to focus more energy on shooting 3-pointers as the second half tipped off. After only attempting two 3s in the first period, the Lancers made three in the first few minutes of the second half.
At the other end of the floor, Radford 3-point shooting went cold but still got quality looks close to the basket. The game went back and forth from there, as the Lancers used the energy from the crowd to hang neck-and-neck with the Highlanders.
With the game down to the wire, Garland hit one of his signature floaters in traffic to tie the game at 69. With eight seconds remaining, Radford’s Maclin took a pass from the top of the key and drained a floater with two seconds left to stun the sold-out crowd.
Garland led Longwood with 23 points, while Maclin’s 15 paced the Highlander.
The Lancers have now lost three straight games, with Saturday’s defeat marking their first loss at home in Big South play. Last season, the Lancers went 6-10 in the Big South and still managed to win the Big South Tournament to receive the automatic March Madness bid.
On Saturday, the Lancers didn’t excel at either end of the floor, playing shorthanded. Two key rotational players, guard KJ McClurg and forward Johan Nziemi, missed the contest with injuries. The visiting Highlanders out-rebounded the Lancers by four and grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first half.
“They absolutely manhandled us in the first half. I was proud of the guys for only giving up one [offensive rebound] in the second half,” said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. “You can’t play hard for 20 minutes, you have to play hard for 40 minutes.”
With their win, Radford now jumps ahead of Longwood in the standings. The Highlanders have held every opponent to 78 points or less in Big South games, with their game before the Longwood matchup being a 78-75 loss at home to High Point.
“Radford is a great team. This is now three-straight [games] that we’ve lost, and I feel that all three of them have been on us,” Garland said. “From not executing on the offensive end and giving up offensive rebounds, they’re a tough offensive rebounding team, we didn’t box out and they out-physicaled us.”
A recurring theme of the season for the Lancers has been late-game resurgence. Longwood led at the half in only one of their four-home conference wins up to this point.
With three straight defeats, the Longwood Lancers will head to High Point, North Carolina, to take on the preseason favorite Panthers at the Qubein Center on ESPNU. It will be the first time Longwood has played at High Point since winning the Big South in March 2024.
“We just have to come back in [the] next practice and learn from [this loss],” junior guard Angelo Brizzi said. “[When we] approach High Point… we can’t worry about the atmosphere or any of the extra stuff, we just need to prepare the right way and be ready to go.”
