Quincy Taylor’s final shot was a running, off-balance, near-half court desperation heave that bypassed backboard and rim sank through the basket at the buzzer. But in a microcosm of Longwood’s 65-64 loss to Charleston Southern Saturday night in Willett Hall, Taylor’s last bucket was too little too late, a remarkable display of skill that got Longwood close, but not close enough.
The Taylor-led Lancers took the first-place Buccaneers (16-9, 10-4 Big South) to the wire, playing within four points for the final 13 minutes of the game, but Charleston Southern thwarted the Lancers’ upset bid behind 21 points from guard Arlon Harper and a clutch final five minutes from forward Cedrick Bowen.
Longwood (7-20, 3-11 Big South) trailed 30-10 just eight minutes into the game but rode Taylor’s 30 points to outscore Charleston Southern 54-35 the rest of the way. Despite the 22-minute surge, however, the Harper-led Bucs did just enough to hold off Longwood in the closing minutes. Bowen scored five of his 11 points inside the final five minutes, sinking three free throws and a dunk during that span to first put Charleston Southern ahead by one, then by three and finally by four with 14 seconds left.
“I was proud of the kids, the way they came back and fought, but it just wasn’t enough,” Longwood head coach Jayson Gee said. “We just didn’t make plays down the stretch. I thought we had some free throws, some offensive opportunities, some execution opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of. Therefore, we lost the game.”
Longwood closed the first half on a 24-9 run to cut the Buccaneer lead to 39-34 and carried that momentum into the second half to take a 58-57 lead with 4:31 left in the game. But as Taylor repeatedly pulled Longwood within striking distance in the final minutes, Charleston Southern executed where Longwood couldn’t.
Bowen hit back-to-back free throws to put the Buccaneers back on top 59-58, and Saah Nimley sank a contested layup at 3:46 to increase the lead to three. The Lancers trimmed the deficit back to one point on a Taylor jumper, but Bowen slipped through the lane on the next possession to throw down a two-handed slam that bumped the lead to 63-60. Longwood had two chances to tie the game but missed back-to-back three-pointers and the front end of a one-and-one on the next two possessions before Bowen put the game away with a free throw that pushed Charleston Southern’s lead to four with 14 seconds remaining.
The missed opportunities wiped away the second 30-point game of the season from Taylor, who sank 12-of-22 shots from the field and 6-of-12 from three-point range while scoring in double figures in both halves. Taylor dished four assists, blocked two shots and added a steal without stepping off the court once the entire game.
“I thought Quincy was aggressive. He played the whole game like he usually plays the last three minutes of the game,” Gee said. “He really wanted this one tonight. He knew we needed him and a special effort to be able to make things happen. I thought he gave us a whole lot in terms of his will, his attitude, his toughness and energy. He’s quite disappointed as well.”
The Lancers have little time to recover as a date with rival Liberty looms Tuesday in Lynchburg. The game will be Longwood’s final road trip of the regular season and a rematch of the Jan. 17 meeting that Longwood won, 85-71, in Farmville. The Lancers then return to Willett Hall for three straight home games before kicking off the Big South Tournament in Conway, S.C., on March 4-8.
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