CHARLESTON, S.C. – Seven Longwood players came just five points away from pulling off a first-round upset, but Charleston Southern freshman Christian Keeling willed the eighth-seeded Buccaneers to a 79-74 win over the Lancers in the first round of the Big South Championship Tuesday evening at The Buc Dome.

The game was a back-and-forth battle that for the second straight game saw the short-handed Lancers (6-24) cut a double-digit deficit to one bucket in the closing minutes, only to fall just short on their final possessions.
 
Charleston Southern (12-18) was up 15 with 5:07 to play, but Longwood scored 13 consecutive points to cut that deficit to two with 1:32 remaining. However, it was Keeling, a Big South All-Freshman Team and All-Big South honorable mention selection, who played the biggest role in helping the Bucs outlast the injury-depleted Lancers, amassing 29 points and 10 rebounds to push Charleston Southern into a quarterfinal matchup against No. 1 seed Winthrop Thursday in Rock Hill, S.C.
 
"I'm very proud of these guys, being down by double digits late and fighting back," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee, whose streak of back-to-back first-round wins in the Big South Championship was snapped with the loss. "We just had a key turnover there at the end, but give them credit – Keeling was phenomenal. We just didn't have a defensive answer for him, and he deserves a lot of credit."
 
The loss ends what has been a season filled with adversity since the preseason for the Lancers, who, after losing five total players to injury or illness, were left with only seven available players in the Big South Championship opener, one of which was a freshman walk-on.
 
However, despite those absences, which continued to occur even in the final two weeks of the season when junior center Obi Romeo missed the final three games with an illness, the Lancers kept three of their final four games within eight points, including back-to-back season-ending losses to Charleston Southern.
 
That fight prompted Charleston Southern head coach Barclay Radebaugh to personally pay his respects to the Lancers after Tuesday's loss.
 
"They're a classy bunch," Gee said of Charleston Southern. "Coach Radebaugh came in our locker room and expressed how proud he was watching our guys on tape all year long knowing the adversity we've gone through. To still fight that way says a lot about who we are. We appreciate that Barclay had the class to do that."
 
Longwood's last fight of the season came on the backs of All-Big South second team forward Khris Lane and redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Walton who turned in matching 24-point performances. Lane knocked down 11-of-17 shots from the floor, while Walton hit 9-of-14 and added two blocks and two steals.
 
Those two carried the Lancers during that second-half comeback with Walton scoring 17 points after halftime and Lane contributing 14.
 
However, after Walton's jump-shot cut Charleston Southern's lead to 72-70 with 1:32 to play, the Lancers were forced to foul to regain possession, and Charleston Southern capitalized on the free trips to the line. The Bucs hit 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch, and Longwood came up empty on two of their final five possessions, including a turnover at half court at the one-minute mark and a contested three-pointer from Lane that would have tied the game but instead rimmed out with eight seconds left.
 
The game also marked the end of a pair of four-year careers for two members of Gee's first Longwood recruiting class, All-Big South honorable mention guard Darrion Allen and fellow senior backcourt mate Isaac Belton. Allen capped his 1,000-point career with 12 points against Charleston Southern, while Belton added a career-high five assists, five points and three rebounds.
 
Allen ends his Longwood career with 1,117 points, ranked 16th on Longwood's all-time list, and a .820 free throw percentage that is the second best in program history. His 62 blocks not only rank ninth all-time at Longwood but are the most by a Longwood guard on that list.
 
"It's a sad day for our seniors," Gee said. "Ike and DJ, just two tremendous young men, two tremendous players who have been phenomenal for our program. I'm just thankful I got to coach them."
 
The loss concludes Longwood's season in the first round of the Big South Championship for the first time in three seasons, snapping a streak of back-to-back years advancing to the quarterfinals. The Lancers return four starters and all but Allen and Belton for next year's squad, while also welcoming back five injured players, currently redshirting senior transfer B.K. Ashe and freshman guard Kamil Chapman to the roster.
 
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