FARMVILLE, Va. – It was
Brandon Maclin's turn to play the hero for the Radford men's basketball program as the Highlanders went in to Longwood and escaped with a 71-69 Big South victory over the Lancers in front of a lively sold-out crowd in the Joan Perry Brock Center on Saturday afternoon.
The game will go down as an instant classic between the two in-state rivals, with Maclin hitting the game winning shot with just two seconds on the clock to seal the big road dub.
Radford jumped out to a 38-32 lead through the first 20 minutes of the contest, but it was tied at 40-40 with 17:44 left in the game. The two foes would continue to trade blows as the game was tied again at the 14:20 (45-45), 12:36 (47-47), 9:38 (52-52), 8:39 (54-54), 7:49 (56-56) and 5:03 (62-62) marks of the second half.
The Highlanders would try to pull away with a 7-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 69-64 advantage with just 39 seconds on the clock. The five-point edge was the furthest either team could get away from each other in the final frame.
Longwood would then go on a frenzied five-point comeback between two made free throws, a steal, another free throw, another swipe and a two-point jumper to knot things once again at 69-69 with just nine seconds remaining.
The Lancers left too much time for the Highlanders though, as
Truth Harris pushed the ball up the floor before finding Maclin for a one-dribble, mid-range jumper that found nothing but net to give Radford a 71-69 lead with just two seconds left.
The Highlanders got back on defense and contested a wild shot at the buzzer to seal the big road victory.
THE FACTS
FINAL SCORE: Radford – 71, Longwood – 69
LOCATION: Joan Perry Brock Center (Farmville, Virginia)
RECORDS: RU 16-10 (6-5 Big South), LU 16-9 (5-5 Big South)
THE GAME WINNING SHOT
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Maclin paced the Radford offense with 15 points to go with six rebounds. He also tied for the game-high with three assists. It was his fourth straight game with double digits in points and his 11th such contest so far this season.
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Truth Harris continued his strong stretch of play with 12 points and three assists. Like Maclin, it was 11th game with double figures in scoring on the campaign.
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Josiah Harris added 11 points of his own and tied for the game-best with seven boards. He also led the contest with two blocks and picked up a helper and a steal.
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Ibu Yamazaki was perfect as he finished as the fourth Highlander in double figures. He went 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Yamazaki made the most of his minutes with all his damage coming in just 11 minutes played. Both of his made three's came at crucial moments in the second half. In an incredible display of efficiency, Yamazki has now had two games where he has shot 100 percent from the field and five contests where he has hit all of his three-point attempts.
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Jarvis Moss (two assists, one rebound) and
Chace Davis (one board, one assist, one swipe) each chipped in six points apiece, respectively.
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Isaiah Gaines tied for the game-high with seven rebounds to go with a rejection and a steal.
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TJ NeSmith (three points, four boards),
David Early (two points, three helpers) and
Zion Walker (two rebounds) rounded out the Highlander attack.
- The Big South thriller went for five lead changes and nine times the contest was tied.
- Radford finished with 28 points in the paint, 23 bench points, 13 points off turnovers and 11 second chance points.
- The Highlanders held the Lancers to just 45 shot attempts from the field, the lowest amount allowed to an opponent so far this year.
- To go with the being the lowest shot total overall, Longwood also attempted just 10 three-point attempts in the game. It was the lowest amount allowed to a Radford opponent so far this season and was four less than the next closest game in the category (14 three's attempted by Chicago State all the way back on November 25).
- It was the first Big South home loss for the Lancers as Radford broke their 4-0 start to the conference season inside the Brock Center.
NEXT UP
The Highlanders remain on the road for another Big South clash, this time at Winthrop on Wednesday, February 12. Tip is set for 6:30 PM ET inside Winthrop Coliseum. The important conference showdown can be watched nationwide on ESPN+ and can be heard anywhere in the country on WRAD. The Highlanders won the previous meeting between the two teams earlier this season by an 87-67 margin inside the Dedmon Center back on January 4. To make the game even more important, Radford (6-5) sits just a single game back of Winthrop (7-4) in the conference standings for third place overall.
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