February 16, 2005

BOX SCORE

BOONE, N.C. – Longwood University, playing its best game in nearly three weeks, dropped a hard-fought 79-65 decision at Appalachian State Wednesday night in North Carolina.  The Lancers (1-27) battled the Mountaineers (15-9) to 12 lead-changes and six ties throughout the closely-played contest as sophomore Michael Jefferson/Chesterfield (Meadowbrook) scored a game-high 22 points.  Longwood will play again next Monday, February 21, at James Madison of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in Harrisonburg at 7 p.m..

The game at Appalachian State was played in stark contrast to the first meeting between the two teams in Farmville January 31, a contest won by the Mountaineers 89-59.  That ASU road win at Longwood was the beginning of seven-straight wins by the Southern Conference member institution, though the first and seventh wins had nothing in common other than the final outcome.

In North Carolina, Longwood jumped out to an early 9-5 lead at 15:01 behind nine quick points from Jefferson, including a three-pointer.  Appalachian answered with six consecutive points to lead 11-9 with 13:15 left in the first half.  The Lancers responded with a 16-8 run for a 25-19 advantage at 8:35 of the opening period behind four points each from junior Chad Kosmo/Northport, Maine (Maine Central Institute) and sophomore Husein Pistoljevic/Richland, Wash. (Hanford).  The Mountaineers outscored LU 17-11 over the remainder of the half to lead 36-31 at the intermission.

Appalachian State led 40-32 early in the second half at 18:09 before Longwood again fought back with a 12-3 run to lead 44-43 with 15:26 left.  The Mountaineers finally seemed to take control with a 14-0 run for a 57-44 advantage at 9:36, and ASU extended the margin to 63-47 with 8:26 on the clock.  The Lancers, however, refused to quit while showing more heart and resilience than they had shown since a 71-65 loss to South Carolina State on Jan. 29.

Following a three-pointer by ASU’s D.J. Thompson at 6:42 for a 68-53 lead, Longwood closed the door defensively against the hosts.  The Mountaineers did not score another field goal in the game (0-6), but were able to secure their win with 11-15 free throws over the final 5:39.  The Lancers closed the deficit with a trifecta of three-pointers, including two by Pistoljevic, while climbing to within 10 points over the final minutes.  Appalachian was 16-25 at the free throw line in the second half compared to LU’s 2-3 effort.

“Tonight, we got back to playing the type of basketball that has made us a competitive Division I program,” explained second-year head coach Mike Gillian.  “We had a tremendous amount of energy and our effort put us in position to have a second half lead against a team that beat us handily at home 16 days ago, and who is currently in first place in the Southern Conference.”

Jefferson’s game-high 22 points included four three-pointers, adding four assists for Longwood.  Pistoljevic finished with 14 points, also with four three-pointers, while sophomore Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) also had 14 points along with seven rebounds, five steals, and four assists.  Kosmo added nine points and eight rebounds for the Lancers, while freshman Lamar Barrett/Providence, R.I. (St. Andrews) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with his four points.  LU shot 38% (26-68) from the field, including 36% (10-28) on three-pointers, and 60% (3-5) at the line.

Thompson led Appalachian State with 15 points, including three treys, while Noah Brown scored 14 points off the bench with three treys as well.  Herbert Jones had 11 points off the bench, while Chris McFarland finished with 10 points off the bench too.  Clint Deas also scored 10 points for the Mountaineers.  ASU shot 49% (26-53) from the field, including 28% (7-25) on three-pointers, and 65% (20-31) at the line – clearly the difference in the game (17-point margin, 20-3).  Longwood out-rebounded the taller hosts 39-37, but had 21 turnovers to 18 miscues committed by Appalachian State.

Longwood was also playing its fourth game in seven days at Appalachian State who has now won the only two meetings between the two institutions.