Longwood University took a 103-84 men’s basketball victory past visiting Southern Virginia University Thursday night at Willett Hall in Farmville. The Lancers (8-14) took advantage of a 27-4 run midway through the first half, and led 51-33 at halftime en route to their home triumph.
Longwood had six players reach double-figure scoring, including all five starters, while led by senior Antwan Carter|St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) with game highs of 26 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and 34th of his career.
Sophomore David Robinson|Chesterfield (Cosby) added a career-high 20 points off the bench, classmate Tristan Carey|Colonial Beach (La Salle) had 16 points, and senior Jeremiah Bowman|Washington, D.C. (Harcum JC) added 15 points and a game-high 10 assists for his fourth double-double of the year. The Knights (9-9) were led by Justin Langford with 18 points.
“It has been two months since we played a game at home with our students here – and they were awesome tonight,” said ninth-year head coach Mike Gillian. “The energy the crowd brought to the gym tonight was fantastic. When it’s like that in Willett Hall, it’s a very tough place for opponent’s to play, and great for us. That definitely has an effect on our performance, and against a scrappy Southern Virginia team, we played pretty well for the most part. Let’s see if we can get a little momentum rolling now as we get ready for a road game next Monday night down at South Carolina State.”
Longwood trailed early as Southern Virginia jumped out to an 18-15 lead at 11:43, but the Lancers answered with 11-straight points behind a pair of three-point field goals from senior Martiz Washington|Hopewell (Christchurch) to lead 26-18 at 9:31. Longwood continued its quick outburst and extended the run to 27-4 to lead 42-22 at 4:31 after a pair of free throws by Carey. The hosts led 51-33 at the intermission as Carter already had his double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds over the first 20 minutes. Washington had 11 first-half points, and Robinson contributed 10 points by halftime.
Longwood led 63-43 early in the second half with 15:12 remaining after a jumper by Bowman followed six quick points from Carey, including a fastbreak slam dunk as well. SVU closed to within 68-55 with 12:35 on the clock before the Lancers got going again with a 10-2 run to lead 78-57 at 10:39, a run that included another dunk by Carey, this time after a steal by Bowman who lobbed the ball to Carey for the thunderous dunk over a visiting player who was whistled for a foul that allowed Carey to complete a three-point play. The advantage remained between 18-22 points the rest of the contest.
Carter led Longwood with his 26 points and 14 rebounds, including 10-17 from the floor and 6-6 at the line. Robinson finished with 20 points off the bench in 24 minutes, making 7-8 from the floor, including 2-2 three-pointers, and 4-5 at the line for the Lancers. Carey added 16 points and four assists, Bowman had 15 points and 10 assists, Washington contributed 12 points, and senior Jan van der Kooij|Tiendeveen, The Netherlands (Roelof van Echten) had 10 points and seven rebounds. LU shot a season-high 63% (34-54) from the field, including a season-best 60% (12-20) on three-pointers, and 79% (23-29) at the free throw line.
Langford led Southern Virginia with his 18 points. Casey Nye added 13 points, while Isaac Jacobson and Payton Brooks each finished with 10 points for the Knights. SVU shot 49% (33-68) from the field, including 31% (5-16) on three-pointers, and 81% (13-16) at the line.
It was the seventh meeting between the two schools in the sport, and Longwood has won six-straight to lead the series at 6-1.
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