Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Junior
Tristan Carey/Colonial Beach scored a career-high and game-high 31 points, adding a game-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, as Longwood University led the entire contest en route to a 76-61 Big South Conference men's basketball victory past North Division and in-state rival Radford University on Saturday afternoon at Willett Hall in Farmville. The Lancers (5-22, 2-11 Big South) led 38-23 at halftime while earning their first conference home win. Freshman
Lucas Woodhouse/Greenlawn, New York tied his career highs with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists to post his second double-double. R.J. Price had 14 points for the Highlanders (12-15, 6-7 Big South), who had won the first meeting between the two schools in Radford, 82-72, on January 16. Longwood will host Big South opponent and in-state archrival Liberty University on Tuesday night, February 19 at 7 p.m. on Senior Night.
Longwood scored the first five points of the game on a three-point field goal by Carey, who had four in the game, and a jumper from redshirt-sophomore
Jeylani Dublin/Brooklyn, New York, and never really looked back … the Lancers led 13-2 at 15:10 after a jumper by Carey, who scored seven quick points for the hosts. A pair of free throws from freshman
Michael Kessens/Nyon, Switzerland made it 22-9 at 9:09, and LU stretched the advantage to 33-19 at 3:58 following a three-pointer by junior
David Robinson/Chesterfield. Longwood closed the half strong and led 38-23 at the intermission, as Carey had 12 first-half points and Kessens had 10 points, while Javonte Green scored six first-half points for Radford.
Longwood made it a 20-point game at 47-27 with a 9-4 run to start the second half, getting five points from Carey, whose three-pointer at 17:23 closed the spurt. Radford managed to pull to within 47-34 with 14:29 remaining on a three-pointer by Rashun Davis. The Lancers, however, responded with a 10-4 run to lead 57-38 at 9:16 as Carey added seven more points with another three-pointer that finished the outburst. The Highlanders tried to rally again and closed to within 57-46 at 5:01 after a pair of free throws from Green, but Carey provided a big basket for the hosts with a deep three-pointer from just in front of the Longwood bench at 4:40 that made it 60-46, and it was 68-52 at 2:20 following two free throws by Carey. RU made a final push and was within 70-59 at 1:52 after four quick points from Ya Ya Anderson, but Dublin answered with a fastbreak slam dunk at 1:42, before Carey (1:23) and Woodhouse (1:05) each made 2-2 free throws to secure the triumph -- much to the delight of the near-capacity crowd of 1,787 that included former Longwood men's basketball players from every decade, 1970's-2010's, on Longwood Basketball Reunion Day. In addition, a Jerome Kersey Bobblehead giveaway took place.
“What an atmosphere today!,” said 10th-year head coach Mike Gillian. “That's what college basketball is all about. As much as that win is for the players and the efforts they have put into this season, that one is for the fans that came out to Willett Hall today. They have supported us all year long and it's great to be able to give them something to cheer for. It was also wonderful to have such a great turnout of alumni for the game today. Those guys are the foundation for what Longwood Basketball has achieved to date, and for the heights it will soar to in the future.”
Carey led Longwood with his career-high and game-high 31 points, adding a season-high and game-high 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double. Dublin and Kessens each had 13 points, with Dublin adding nine rebounds and Kessens had seven rebounds for the Lancers. Woodhouse tied his career highs with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists for his second double-double. LU shot 50% (25-50) from the field, including 46% (5-11) on three-pointers and 81% (21-26) at the free throw line.
Price led Radford with his 14 points, Green contributed 13 points and seven rebounds and Anderson had nine points. RU shot 31% (20-65) from the field, including 22% (5-23) on three-pointers and 73% (16-22) at the line.
Longwood and Radford were playing for the 18th time since 1977, and the Highlanders lead the series, 13-5. Radford will host North Division opponent Campbell University on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
Pictured above, kneeling left to right: Ron Thornhill '79, William 'Billy' Dunn '91 and Junior Burr '96. Standing, left to right:
Martiz Washington '12, Mitch Walker '82, Kenny Ford '81, Jerome Kersey '84, Kevin Swecker '10, Randy Johnson '82, Brandon Giles '08, Orlando Turner '82, Keith Latimer '91, Earl Gee '11, Kevin Jefferson '90, DeVonne Johnson '96, Chris Isaacs '02, Matt Donohue '02, Jon Hughes '00, Maurice Sumter '07, EJ Dawson '10 and Longwood AD
Troy Austin. Absent from the photo but in attendance was Dalany Brown '83.
The White won the annual alumni game, 72-69, after rallying from a 39-36 deficit against the Blue at halftime. EJ Dawson led the comeback with 11 of his team-high 19 points during the second 15-minute period. Jerome Kersey, who scored the first six points of the game for the White, finished with 15 points, followed by DeVonne Johnson (12) and Brandon Giles (12), Jon Hughes (6), Junior Burr (5) and Kevin Swecker (3). Giles was a perfect 4-4 at the free throw line over the final 23-seconds to secure the victory. Rebounding totals were not kept, but both Kersey and Hughes probably had double-figure efforts.
The Blue led for much of the 30-minute contest before being overtaken late, while led by a game-high 24 points from
Martiz Washington, who made six three-point field goals. Other scoring for the Blue included Earl Gee (19), Keith Latimer (13), Billy Dunn (11) and Kevin Jefferson (2). Latimer, who sort of had the game's only dunk in the first half, and Jefferson each probably grabbed double-figure rebounds in the contest.
Special kudos to Ron Thornhill '79, the most elder returnee and participant in the alumni game. Mr. Thornhill averaged 6.3 points and 1.5 assists for an 18-8 squad during 1978-79.
It was the largest group of returning alumni for the annual Reunion Day since the mid-1990's.
