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Road wins are like gold this year in the Big South, and the Longwood Lancers struck it rich on Wednesday night at Radford.

The shorthanded Lancers (15-6, 4-2 Big South) refused to fold and handed Radford (13-8, 3-3 Big South) its first loss, 77-74, in the Dedmon Center this season.

It took plenty of grit, which has been a hallmark of the Longwood program under head coach Griff Aldrich. Big South home teams had gone 21-3 coming into the day, but the Lancers flipped the script as five players scored in double figures for a second straight game.

“I am really pleased with our group tonight,” said Aldrich. “Their toughness and resilience showed as they weathered several runs from Radford but made plays to close out the game.”

Angelo Brizzi put together one of his finest performances as a Lancer, recording 17 a season-best points, a team high seven rebounds and four steals. Michael Christmas matched him with 17 points, and the two players combined to go 8-13 from three. Colby Garland had 11 points, and Elijah Tucker and Johan Nziemi chipped in 10 points apiece.

Meanwhile, the defense hounded Radford to a 6-21 shooting night from three and forced huge stops late in the contest to preserve a narrow advantage.

A back and forth battle

Christmas opened the game on a tear, hitting two threes to jumpstart an 8-0 run that Elijah Tucker capped with a dunk off a feed from Christmas. Radford answered, though, and slowly whittled away the lead before using a 15-1 run to take a 26-22 lead with 3:22 to go in the first half. 

Brizzi promptly canned a triple, Jaylen Benard added a three one possession later, and the Lancers went on an 11-4 spurt. Christmas hit the team’s seventh three of the half for a 36-33 lead at the break. After halftime, the Longwood Lancers scored seven straight points to extend the lead to 10, and it eventually swelled to 12 on a Christmas triple with 11:47 to go.

Radford reeled the game back within two possessions with an 8-0 spurt, but the Lancers stabilized the game with a pair of Kyrell Luc free throws. The foul shots also gave Luc 1,000 points in his collegiate career.

While Radford managed to knot the score at 70 all with 2:04 to play, Elijah Tucker hit a foul shot on the ensuing possession to give Longwood a 71-70 lead with 1:45 left.

The Lancer defense did the rest. Brizzi and Garland each pilfered the ball on Radford’s next two possessions, and Garland hit a pair of free throws to give Longwood a three-point cushion with 15 seconds to go.

From there, the Lancers executed to preserve the road win.

Longwood Lancers continue to grow

“This group continues to develop and continues to grow as a team,” Aldrich said. “It has been fun to watch them individually and collectively focus on how they can help this team become the best it can be.”

The Lancers return home for a matchup with USC Upstate on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Joan Perry Brock Center. The game will air on ESPN+ with Sam Hovan and John Feinstein on the call.