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Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
DelJones
Ethan Neal
83
Longwood LWU 10-10,2-3 Big South
85
Winner Radford Rad 11-9,4-1 Big South
Longwood LWU
10-10,2-3 Big South
83
Final
85
Radford Rad
11-9,4-1 Big South
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Longwood LWU 36 47 83
Radford Rad 53 32 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Jones' Heroic Last Second Shot Vaults Highlanders Past Lancers

RADFORD, Va. – After a hot start was negated by a late rally from Longwood, Del Jones played hero with his last second layup that sealed the deal in a thrilling 85-83 victory for men's basketball over the Lancers Saturday afternoon in the Dedmon Center.
 
KEY STATS
  • Jones stayed hot after posting 27 points earlier this week, supplying another 25 off eight made shots and a trio of assists.
  • Lukas Walls was incredibly efficient for the Highlanders scoring 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and a team-high trio of three pointers.
  • Doing most of the work in the first half, Radford's defense caused havoc for Longwood turning 15 turnovers into 23 points.
  • Radford never relinquished the lead, only allowing Longwood to tie the game at 80-all before scoring three of their final five points at the free throw line to hold on.
  • The two-point margin of the victory is the Highlanders tightest victory of the season, their previous closest win being by five over Western Illinois in the season opener.
 
PLAY BY PLAY
Radford wasted no time jumping out to a big lead to contrast their slow start earlier this week at Gardner-Webb. The Highlanders hit eight of their first 11 shots taken, immediately putting pressure on a Lancers offense that struggled early. Jones got his big day started with a fastbreak three while Tyson Brown, Walls, Jaylon Johnson and Dennis Parker Jr. all fueled a 26-10 lead eight minutes into the game.
 
Up 28-12, Radford stayed hot as Frederik Erichsen joined in on the scoring while Brennan Rigsby Jr. broke a three-minute scoring drought with free throws at the 7:23 mark. With the lead at 34-20, Erichsen hit a triple followed by another fastbreak make from Mari Jordan to keep Radford pacing ahead by 17.
 
Radford's offense kept its fast pace rolling as Parker Jr. slammed home a dunk at the 1:24 mark followed by one more big shot from Jones from beyond the arc. The three from Jones had Radford ahead 53-36, their biggest lead at the half against a Big South foe so far this season.
 
Longwood seemingly shook off the rust that came from being idle earlier this week from conference play, flipping the script on the Highlanders in half two. Early on, Radford did a good job at staving off multiple Lancer runs. Walls paced the offense through an early scoring drought, keeping Radford ahead 60-45 with 16:42 to play.
 
A make from the paint from Johnson at 15:02 and a free throw at 13:39 helped break the ice somewhat for Radford, but the offense had slowed considerably scoring just three points over a three-minute span. The defensive intensity kept Longwood from immediately storming back, but with 10 minutes to play the dam finally started to burst.
 
The Lancers cut the lead back to single digits for the first time since the early minutes of the game thanks to a 6-2 run. A jumper from Jones at the 7:11 mark saw Radford's first make from the field in over eight minutes. Free throws kept the lead intact at 71-62. Longwood kept chipping away, and a three with 4:43 remaining shrunk Radford's lead to 73-70. Walls had a great response three from the corner in the following possession, but the tides had officially turned.
 
Jones and Brown had critical paint points for Radford, but the Lancers kept firing and pulled the game to an 80-79 margin. The Lancers would go 1-for-2 on a trip to the free throw line to tie the game back up at 80-80 for the first time since it was 0-0. Longwood gave up a foul to the reliable scorer Parker Jr. who would go 1-for-2 from the line as well.
 
Leading just 81-80, Radford got a crucial stop on a three-pointer that ringed out from the Lancers who proceeded to foul Jones. Jones, in his first big move of the day, hit both free throws with ease for the 83-80 advantage. The Lancers, as they had all second half, responded once again with a three-pointer that tied the game back up.
 
After dribbling out the clock, Radford called timeout with just four seconds remaining in the game. Needing a big shot, Jones played hero and drove through the paint with ease and around a defender to hit a layup that vaulted Radford ahead 85-83. With just a second remaining, Longwood's half court heave missed the mark as the Highlanders hung on for the big victory.
 
AROUND THE BIG SOUTH
  • Winthrop held on late at UNC Asheville to pick up a big road win 69-67.
  • Presbyterian faced no hurdles dispatching Gardner-Webb 92-55 in Boiling Springs.
  • USC Upstate and High Point will cap Big South action today with a 7 p.m. tip in High Point, N.C.
 
UP NEXT
Radford returns to road action for a battle atop the Big South standings with Winthrop on Wednesday, January 21st. Action will tip slightly earlier than normal at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD MEN'S BASKETBALL
For all the latest on Radford Men's Basketball, be sure to follow the team on X (@RadfordHoops), Instagram (@radfordhoops), and "like" the team's official Facebook Page (Radford Men's Basketball).
 
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