November 18
BOX SCORE
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Longwood University opened its 2005-06 men’s basketball campaign with an 80-65 loss at the University of Nebraska Friday night during the first game of the John Thompson Foundation Challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Lancers (0-1) were led by junior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) with a game-high 17 points, while the Cornhuskers (1-0) had three players (Aleks Maric, Joe McCray, Jamel White) score 14 points each. Longwood will play Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. during the second day of the three-day exempt tournament in Nebraska.
Longwood opened its season with a three-pointer by Sumter for the early 3-0 lead at 18:59, and led 5-3 after a jumper from freshman Bryan Butler/Woodbridge (Potomac) 16-seconds later. Nebraska, of the Big 12 Conference, stormed back with seven unanswered points to lead 10-5 at 16:58, and extended its lead to 15-8 with 13:36 left in the first half. The Lancers, however, battled the bigger Cornhuskers and climbed to within 18-17 at 10:07 on a three-pointer from sophomore Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton). The hosts again extended the advantage to 24-17 (5:40) before LU took advantage of a 12-2 run to lead 29-26 at 3:41, sparked by two treys from Butler and one each from Sumter and Smith. Nebraska, though, closed the half with a 15-3 run over the final 3:22 for a 41-32 lead at the intermission.
Longwood closed to within 43-35 early in the second half at 18:06, but Nebraska quickly built a 15-point lead at 52-37 with 16:19 remaining. The Lancers fought back to within 10 points at 58-48 on an alley-oop dunk by freshman Kirk Williams/White Plains, N.Y. (Woodlands) at 11:47, but the Huskers again extended their margin – this time to their largest lead of the game at 73-51 with 6:56 left to play. LU refused to quit, however, and played hard down the stretch with a 7-1 game-closing run for the final margin.
“I’m very proud of our guys," explained Gillian. "We’ve come a long way. I’m very pleased with their effort, and we need to continue to give that over and over again and perform at a high level. It can’t just be once in a while. Physically we are prepared, and mentally we are prepared, but emotionally, after losing, we have to be prepared for tomorrow."
Sumter’s game-high 17 points for Longwood included a trio of three-pointers, along with three rebounds. Butler finished with 15 points and four assists, including three treys as well, while Smith had 12 points on the strength of 4-4 shooting behind the arc. Williams added five points and a team-high six rebounds off the bench for the Lancers. LU shot 39.3% (24-61) from the field, including 43% (12-28) on three-pointers, and 50% (5-10) at the free throw line. Longwood did force 21 Nebraska turnovers.
Maric grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his 14 points for Nebraska, while McCray scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and White finished with 13 of his 14 points after the break. Jason Dourisseau added 13 points and nine boards as the Cornhuskers out-rebounded Longwood 45-32. Nebraska shot 50% (29-58) from the field, including 47% (7-15) on three-pointers, and 56% (15-27) at the line.
Louisiana Tech and Yale played in the other first-round game of the tournament late Friday.
