Men's Basketball 1/26/2016 3:24:00 PM

RADFORD TRAVELS TO LONGWOOD, LOOKING TO CONTINUE WINNING WAYS

RADFORD, Va. – Coming off a pair of home victories, Radford will try to carry the momentum on the road as it travels to in-state foe Longwood in Big South men's basketball action Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Radford looks for a third straight win and an end to a four-game road losing streak. The Highlanders (12-9, 5-4) sit in a crowded top half of the conference, sharing fourth place with Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb, each one game behind second-place Winthrop and High Point.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Radford leads 16-6
Location: Willett Hall (Farmville, Va.)
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats
Live Video
Live Audio
Game Notes

LAST MEETING
Radford used 59 percent first-half shooting to build an 11-point halftime lead and held on for an 80-75 victory at the Dedmon Center on Feb. 11. Javante Green was limited to four points, but five other Highlanders scored in double figures to pick up the slack. Cameron Jones had 15 points and career-high eight rebounds, while Rashun Davis tallied 13 points, YaYa Anderson had 12 and Brandon Holcomb and R.J. Price added 11.

Radford made 10 of 24 3-point attempts, outrebounded Longwood 39-28 and had a 36-11 advantage in bench points. Shaquille Johnson scored a game-high 22 points for the Lancers, who were without starting center Lotanna Nwogbo due to injury.

RU's victory avenged a double-overtime setback at Longwood in last season's first meeting. Jones also led the Highlanders in that one, scoring 20 points. Nwogbo had 17 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in 48 minutes.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
Radford limited Gardner-Webb to 33 percent shooting on Sunday, a season-low versus a Division I opponent. The 28 points were also the fewest the Highlanders have given up in any second half.

Cameron Jones is averaging 20.3 points in the last four games, while shooting an even 50 percent, including 16 of 33 from 3-point range. In Big South play, Jones ranks second in the conference in 3-point percentage (42.4) and third in made treys per game (3.1), while averaging 15.4 ppg, sixth-best. For the season, Jones is up to 13.5 ppg and has made at least three 3-pointers in 13 games.

Rashun Davis has dished out 25 assists in the last four games and leads the conference at 4.8 per contest. With 409 dimes in his career, he needs eight more to tie Whit Holcomb-Faye for third place in program history. Davis also ranks third in the Big South in steals (1.8) – tied for first in league play (2.3) – and shares seventh in scoring at 13.9 ppg. He is 10 points away from moving into a tie for 20th on RU's career scoring list. In addition, the senior guard recorded his 300th rebound against Gardner-Webb and is two steals shy of 150.

Ed Polite, Jr. has grabbed at least seven rebounds in five consecutive games and six or more in eight consecutive. He is seventh in the Big South with 6.9 boards per game and fourth in conference play with 7.7. He has totaled 71 offensive rebounds and ranks tied for second in the league at 3.4 per contest, third-best among freshmen in the nation.

Radford remains the Big South leader in rebounding (39.1), while ranking second in the league and 20th in the nation on the offensive end (14.1). The Highlanders are also second in the conference in blocks per game (4.6).

SUITS AND SNEAKERS
Radford will be taking part in Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week. On Wednesday night, the Highlander coaches will sport black sneakers with gold laces, provided by the NABC in memory of Lacey Holsworth, an 8-year-old basketball fan who died of cancer. Laces are available to the public at all Shoe Carnival stores and online at shoecarnival.com/lacey. A total of 85 percent of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society, with Princess Lacey's Legacy receiving the other 15 percent. In Saturday's game at Winthrop, Radford's staff will wear regular sneakers without laces.

SCOUTING LONGWOOD
Longwood (6-15, 2-6) lost both of its games last week, dropping a 55-53 decision at Liberty before falling to Winthrop at home 82-68 on Sunday. Prior to that, the Lancers had notched both of their Big South victories, defeating Coastal Carolina by 15 at home and winning at Campbell by 17.

The Lancers currently have seven players averaging at least nine points and three players pulling down at least 6.8 rebounds per game.

Nwogbo, the Big South's Preseason All-Conference center, is tied for seventh in the league in scoring (13.9) and ranks eighth in rebounding (6.8) while shooting 54 percent from the floor. He is coming off his lowest-scoring output since early December as he tallied just seven in a season-low 18 minutes against Winthrop after getting into early foul trouble.

Johnson did not play in the team's first nine games of the season, but had posted four double-doubles in the 11 games since, before missing the Winthrop game due to injury. He is averaging 11.8 points and 7.1 rebounds along with sharing the team-lead with 3.8 assists.

Sophomore guard Kanayo Obi Rapu is averaging 11.9 ppg and is the team's top 3-point shooter with 42 on the season at a 40 percent clip. Redshirt sophomore Khris Lane complements Nwogbo on the inside, ranking fifth in the Big South with 7.3 rebounds along with 9.9 points. Senior Tra'vaughn White and junior Darrion Allen are contributing 10.8 and 9.2 ppg, respectively, on the perimeter. White is averaging 12.7 per game in conference play.

Leron Fisher, a senior guard who scored 26 points in the Lancers' win over RU last year, has missed seven of the last eight games. Only four players have appeared in all 21 of the team's games this season.

Despite the offensive balance, Longwood ranks 10th in Big South play with 66.1 ppg, due in large part to committing a league-high 17.5 turnovers per contest. The Lancers do lead the conference in field-goal percentage defense, holding Big South opponents to 40.9, although Winthrop shot 53 percent in the last game. Longwood is 0-11 this season when being outrebounded.

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