Longwood men’s basketball fell 79-72 to Radford on Feb. 18. The road loss drops the Lancers to 6-21 (3-13), while the Highlanders improved to 12-16 (7-9).
"I was very, very proud of them," said head coach Jayson Gee on the official Longwood athletics website. "We had a great talk last night about where we were mentally, and I thought the guys really responded. Their attitude, their effort, mentality was extremely positive, and it gave us a chance to win this game."
Gee’s squad started brightly, led by redshirt junior Khris Lane’s 12 first-half points, and at one point opened up a nine-point advantage. However, the hosts clawed their way back through sophomore forward Ed Polite Jr., and brought the score level, 30-30 at halftime.
The Highlanders carried their momentum into the second half, as they pulled away courtesy of Polite Jr. and freshman guard Donald Hicks. Hicks torched the Lancers with 19 points, including four three-pointers, while Polite Jr. collected his Big South-leading 13th double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
In the end, there was just too much firepower for Longwood to keep up, as they allowed the hosts a 52.9 percent shooting percentage alongside 11 turnovers.
"We had a couple key turnovers there down the stretch that were difficult to make up for, and just poor execution on the offensive end that compounded that problem," Gee said on the official Longwood athletics website. "Somehow, some way, we have to find a way to make those plays, and that's on all of us."
It proved too much for the likes of Lane, redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Walton and his senior counterpart Darrion Allen. The trio put in a valiant effort, with Lane notching a career-high 32 points, while Walton and Allen chipped in with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
"We played hard and competed. We had the right attitude and didn't feel sorry for ourselves," Gee said on the official Longwood athletics website. "I thought Isaiah Walton was tremendous. DJ (Allen) in so many ways was just phenomenal, along with Lane, obviously. I thought everybody came out and gave a tremendous effort. It just wasn't enough.
Despite their effort, it was not enough as the shorthanded Lancers had a grand total of zero points off the bench, while Radford collected 14 from their reserves.
Without a win since Jan. 4, Gee’s team has two chances remaining to earn wins this season. First they travel to Liberty, who thrashed them 93-62 earlier this season, on Feb. 23. The following game is Feb. 25 against Charleston Southern, who beat the Lancers 76-61 in January. The contest with the Buccaneers will be the Lancers’ senior day, and one final opportunity to cap off a rough season with a win.
