December 22, 2005

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a 91-80 men’s basketball road decision at VCU Thursday night in Richmond at the Alltel Pavilion at Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Lancers (2-10) were led by freshman Bryan Butler/Woodbridge (Potomac) with a career-high 19 points off the bench. The Rams (7-2) were led by B.A. Walker with a game-high 22 points. Longwood will take a week off for the Christmas holiday before participating in the College of Charleston Classic December 29-30 in Charleston, South Carolina. The Lancers will play the tournament host, the College of Charleston, in the first-round next Thursday (Dec. 29) at 7:30 p.m..

At VCU, Longwood fell behind 15-0 at the start as the Rams made three, three-pointers, including two from Walker who added a dunk to finished the quick beginning at 15:24. The Lancers scored their first points at 15:10 on a three-pointer from Butler who added another trey following a layup from sophomore Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) to narrow the lead to 17-8 at 14:18. VCU led 31-20 at 8:18 before an 11-2 run by Longwood made it a two-point game at 33-31 with 6:08 left before halftime. Smith scored seven points during the run, including an old-fashioned three-point play. The Rams, however, closed the period with an 18-8 run to lead 51-39 at the intermission as Alexander Harper finished the opening half with 14 points, and Walker had 11 points.

VCU expanded the margin in the second half, taking its largest lead at 66-46 with 15:41 remaining. Longwood would not go away, though, outscoring the Rams 29-19 to climb back to within 10 points at 85-75 with 3:04 on the clock. Butler nailed a couple of long three-pointers along with a pair of free throws, while Smith added seven more points, and freshman Kirk Williams/White Plains, N.Y. (Woodlands) scored six points. The hosts secured the final margin with a layup and 4-6 free throws over the final 3:00.

Butler’s career-high of 19 points included 5-9 three-pointers while playing just 21 minutes off the bench for Longwood. Williams matched his career-high with 17 points, adding seven rebounds while playing 25 minutes off the bench for the Lancers. Smith also had a career-high with 16 points, adding six rebounds while making his first start of the season, and junior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) contributed 15 points. LU shot 44% (28-63) from the field, including 47% (8-17) on three-pointers, and 64% (16-25) at the free throw line. The Lancers did out-rebound the Rams 42-30.

Walker led VCU with his game-high 22 points, followed by Nick George with 18 points. Jamal Shuler added 17 points off the bench, while Harper finished with 16 points, and Eric Davis added 10 points. VCU shot 50% (31-62) from the field, including 33% (9-27) on three-pointers, and 83% (20-24) at the line.

Longwood played without its leading scorer, junior Michael Jefferson/Chesterfield (Meadowbrook) (14.5), who did not play after an ankle injury suffered against Valparaiso (Dec. 20).