RADFORD CAPS REGULAR SEASON VS. LONGWOOD ON SENIOR DAY

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RADFORD, Va. – The Radford men's basketball team closes out the regular season with a matchup against in-state foe Longwood on Saturday. The Highlanders will honor their 2016 senior class prior to the 4 p.m. tipoff inside the Dedmon Center.

Radford (16-13, 9-8) comes in tied with Liberty for sixth place in the Big South, one game behind Gardner-Webb, but with a chance to earn the No. 5 seed in next week's conference tournament and a first-round bye. A Highlander victory and Liberty win over Gardner-Webb would result in a three-way tie, with Radford prevailing in the tiebreaker by virtue of a 3-1 head-to-head record against the Flames and Runnin' Bulldogs.

SPECIAL SENIORS
The members the 2016 senior class have been part of one of the winningest four-year periods in Radford basketball history. The 73 total victories since 2012-13 are now the third-most at RU over a four-year period as a Division I program. Even more impressive, the group's 60 wins in the last three seasons are the most during a three-year span. Included in that are back-to-back Division I program record-tying 22-win campaigns along with the school's first two postseason victories.

SETTING THE STAGE

Series: Radford leads 17-6
Location: Dedmon Center
Time: 4 p.m.
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Game Notes: Radford | Longwood

LAST MEETING
Radford shot 53 percent and connected on 10 3-pointers to prevail 90-81 in a game of runs on Jan. 27 in Farmville. The Highlanders led by five at halftime on the strength of a 14-0 first-half spurt, built their advantage back up to 12 in the second half and then held off a Longwood rally to within one before pulling back away down the stretch.

Cameron Jones was among four RU players in double figures with 20 points, while Ed Polite, Jr. posted a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds and Brandon Holcomb added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Three Longwood players combined for 72 points, led by Tra'vaughn White's game-high 28. Lotanna Nwogbo tallied 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Kanayo Obi-Rapu scored 23 points for the Lancers, who shot 45 percent.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS
Radford has now posted eight victories this season when taking the lead for good with under 1:30 left in the game and seven in the final minute, including each of its last three wins. The Highlanders are now 7-5 in games decided by four points or less and 11-6 when the margin is eight or fewer. After going 4-0 at home and 1-3 on the road in January, RU is 0-3 at home and 3-0 on the road during the month of February.

Cameron Jones has now reached double figures in 12 straight games and has led the team in scoring in each of the last five outings, while shooting 52.7 percent from the field. Jones is seventh in the Big South with 14.7 ppg on the season and ranks sixth in conference play at 16.6. Also against conference foes, he is second in 3-point percentage and third with 2.7 made 3's per game.

Rashun Davis now stands alone in 12th on RU's career scoring list with 1,277 points. He is 37 away from moving into the top 10. Davis' 137 assists this season are the seventh-most by a Highlander and he remains the Big South leader at 4.7 per game. He also ranks tied for third in steals (1.9) – tied for first in conference play at 2.3 – and ninth in scoring (14.1).

Ed Polite, Jr. extended his streak of at least six rebounds to 16 consecutive games and remains second in the conference with 8.1 boards per game in league play. Polite, Jr. has led or co-led the Highlanders in rebounds in 20 of the 29 games during his freshmen season. He ranks second in the conference with 3.2 offensive rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game and has scored in double figures in three straight contests.

Brandon Holcomb recorded a team-high three blocks Thursday night, giving him 145 for his career. He now ranks tied for 18th in Big South history. Holcomb has also made 73.5 percent (25 of 34) of his field-goal attempts over the last eight games.

SCOUTING LONGWOOD
Longwood (8-22, 4-13) comes in having lost five straight games, including a 74-73 decision at the buzzer to Presbyterian Thursday night that spoiled its senior night. Four of the five defeats were by single digits, including a pair of one-point games.

Lotanna Nwogbo tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to PC, his seventh straight double-double and eighth in the last 10 games. He is the Big South's leading rebounder with 8.3 per contest (9.5 in conference play), has scored 20 or more points in three of the last four outings and ranks sixth in the league at 15.3 ppg.

Along with Nwogbo, four other Lancers are averaging in double-figures. Tra'vaughn White had 21 points against Presbyterian, has reached double figures in 12 of the last 13 games, averaging 17.0 during that span, and is at 13.4 for the season.

Shaquille Johnson, who did not play in the teams' earlier meeting, has dished out 24 assists in the last four games, including a career-high 10 Thursday night. For the season, he has totaled 83 assists in just 18 games for a 4.6 per game average. Johnson is also averaging 10.4 points per contest.

Kanayo-Obi Rapu is third on the team in scoring at 12.4 and leads the way with 59 3-pointers, but has missed the last two games with an illness. Darrion Allen is shooting a team-best 46.7 percent (49 of 105) from 3-point range and is scoring 10.1 points per game.

In conference play, Longwood is sixth in scoring (71.4), but 10th in points allowed (76.1). The Lancers are last in the league with 15.4 turnovers per game, but surrender the second-fewest rebounds (26.4).

UP NEXT
Radford will begin play in the 2016 Big South Men's Basketball Championship either Thursday or Friday in Buies Creek, N.C.

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