FARMVILLE, Va. – Third-place Radford showcased one of the deepest benches in the Big South, riding 44 points from its reserves to take down Longwood 70-47 in the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon in Willett Hall.
 
Guard Caleb Tanner led that charge off the bench, hitting five three-pointers en route to a game-high 15 points as the Highlanders (19-12, 12-6 Big South) extended their win streak to four games. Reserve forward Leroy Butts IV also scored in double digits, adding 11 points and seven rebounds to spoil the final home game for Longwood seniors B.K. Ashe and Charles Glover.
 
The win secures Radford at least a No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the Big South Championship, which begins Tuesday at the site of the higher seeds in the two first-round games.
 
Meanwhile,10-seed Longwood (6-25, 3-15 Big South) is guaranteed to play in one of those early matchups and will face the No. 7 seed Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Big South will announce the full tournament bracket later this evening.
 
Radford, now tied with Winthrop for second place in the conference at 12-6, earned that top-three spot Saturday on the strength of a nine-man rotation and a defense that held Longwood to .308 (16-of-52) shooting from the field.
 
The Lancers entered the game averaging seven three-pointers per contest but went cold from long range early, missing their first 13 treys and finishing 2-of-18 from beyond the arc for the game. That drought allowed Radford to break the game open with a 25-8 run that turned a tied game into a 37-20 halftime lead.
 
It wasn't until the senior Glover connected late in the second half that Longwood snapped that streak. Glover's fellow senior Ashe finished as Longwood's lone double-digit scorer on Senior Day, scoring 10 in 24 minutes of action. Those 10 points put him over 1,400 points for his collegiate career.
 
"Those are two tremendous young men that brought a lot to the table for us," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee, who recruited both Ashe and Glover after the two transferred from Mount St. Mary's.
 
"I'm proud of them, and I'm extremely proud I got to coach them. Their contributions can never be measured. I'm certainly thankful for their mentality, their attitude and the leadership they provided for our guys. I can go on and on and talk about those two all day. I just wish we could have done better for them because they deserve better."
 
Ashe and Glover stepped off Jerome Kersey Court for the last time with under four minutes to play in the game, but their 15 combined points did little to overcome Radford's team-wide effort.
 
The Lancers managed to keep All-Big South forward Ed Polite Jr. in check, holding Radford's leading scorer and rebounder to just five points and two rebounds, but Polite's frontcourt mates Randy Phillips and Butts made up for his absence. Phillips finished with seven points and six rebounds.
 
Now the Lancers will have three days to prepare for their first-round matchup in the Big South Championship on Tuesday. Longwood is 3-4 in the tournament under Gee and has advanced out of the first round in two of the past three seasons, including the 2015 tournament when they upset No. 1 seed Charleston Southern to advance to the semifinals.

"That tournament is a funny thing," Gee said. "It's a new season. It literally is. We have to embrace that and move forward. It doesn't matter who we play, we're certainly capable. This team has to regroup and find a way to get it done."

Tuesday's game will air on the Big South Network and WVHL 92.9 FM.
 
#GoWood