Longwood, after beating the #1, #2 and #4 seeds in the Big South Tournament, is going dancing, cutting down the nets after a convincing 85-59 win over UNC Asheville on Sunday.
The improbable weekend came after the Lancers (21-13) had limped into the tournament with a 6-10 league mark.
“The only people who didn’t realize they were 6-10 in conference were the guys in our locker room,” Longwood coach Griff Aldrich said. “They knew they were a lot better. They believed throughout. Their confidence in themselves and each other has truly been remarkable.”
Michael Christmas scored 18 points, Szymon Zapala had 17, and Walyn Napper had 10 points and 11 assists for the Lancers, who dominated UNC Asheville, the defending Big South champ, from the outset.
It will be the second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years for Longwood, which qualified for March Madness in 2022 as the Big South champ after a 15-1 Big South regular season and a three-game run through the conference tournament.
The road back was a bit bumpier in 2024.
Longwood lost three straight after a 12-1 start, beginning a stretch of 10 losses in 12 games.
The Lancers closed out the regular season with four wins in their last six, including a 74-72 upset of Big South regular-season champion High Point on March 2.
On Thursday, they outworked No. 4 seed Winthrop in the second half to earn a 69-55 tournament quarterfinal victory. And on Saturday, Longwood rallied from 15 down in the second half to beat High Point again – this time on their home court, stunning and silencing a raucous sell-out crowd.
“I think we have really strived, President Reveley, Tim Hall our AD, we’ve really wanted to build a program, not just a team,” Aldrich said. “This has been an institutional effort. This is extremely is rewarding I hope for a lot of people, not just the guys and women in the men’s basketball department, but in a lot of departments where people have really worked hard to build this program.”
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Chris Graham
