Round 2: vs Safety School (12–14,6–6)
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Javonte Green has been on fire lately for the Highlanders.[/caption]
Where: Historic Willett Hall
When: Saturday February 16, 2PM
TV: Big South Network
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Longwood and Radford will meet up for the second time this year on Saturday afternoon. Radford won the first game 82–72 behind a 30 point night from RJ Price, a sophomore from Richmond. It wasn’t the Highlanders win or Price’s performance that was the story of the night though.
Let in the second half there was an ugly incident involving Longwood’s Michael Kessens and Radford’s Kion Brown. The two exchanged punches in the squabble ended up with Jeylani Dublin and Jeff Havenstein being ejected for leaving the bench and involving themselves in the incident. So will this incident raise tensions or spill over into tomorrow’s match up? Will the game be refereed more tightly as a result of this? We’ll find out around 2PM.
As I’ve stated before, what Mike Jones is doing at Radford should be the blueprint for a rebuilding Big South program. Jones basically purged the team last year and decided to start from scratch. His local recruiting and coaching style have catapulted Radford to a 6–6 record in conference. Also, five of the Highlanders conference losses have come by ten points or less. Radford is quickly becoming one of the most well respected and well coached programs in the conference as Mike Jones cleans up the mess Brad Greenberg left.
Radford’s weakness has been the road in the Big South where they were 1–4 heading into Wednesday night. The Highlanders may have turned that corner though as they took down VMI 82–79 and now stand third in the North Division, a half of a game behind the Keydets. Radford has now put themselves in very good position to possibly get the all important bye for the Big South tournament.
Sophomore Javonte Green from Alberta, Virginia has become the primary scoring threat for the Highlanders. In Radford’s last three games Green is averaging over 23 points per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field. RJ Price is not far behind Green averaging 14 points per game this year, and freshman Ya Ya Anderson (who is from Fluvanna, VA) is starting to make noise off the bench now averaging 10 points per game.
Longwood has shown they can hang with the Highlanders as the last game was close until about the time the fight broke out. TT Carey had one of his best games of the year scoring 23 points in that game. We’re just not sure what to expect from the Lancers. The team that showed up at Winthrop and the first half of the High Point game or the team that showed up in the second half of that game?
Don’t forget to check out the Alumni Day festivities along with Jerome Kersey bobblehead day!
