January 30, 2006

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University took a hard-fought 60-59 men’s basketball victory past visiting IPFW Monday night in Willett Hall, giving the Lancers consecutive wins for the first time in four seasons since the 2002-03 campaign. Junior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) led Longwood (5-16) with a game-high and season-high 28 points. The Mastodons (6-14) were led by Quintin Carouthers and Brad Pompey with 15 points each. Longwood will play again on Thursday, February 2, hosting North Carolina A&T in Willett Hall on-campus in Farmville beginning at 7 p.m..

The game was delayed for 22-minutes with 9:38 remaining in the second half after IPFW freshman Warren Wallace hit the floor hard while contesting a missed layup attempt by Longwood. Wallace was attended to by athletic training staff members from both schools and subsequently transported by EMT personnel to the local hospital. No immediate word was available on his status.

Longwood and IPFW played to 18 lead changes, and eight ties during the evenly-played contest. The Lancers led 47-42 at the time of the game delay after which each team was allowed a four-minute warm-up period. When play resumed, Justin Hawkins made a three-point field goal to bring the Mastodons within 47-45 at 9:24. A jumper from junior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) put LU back ahead 49-45 (8:55), but IPFW rallied with a 9-2 run to lead 54-51 at 4:38 on a layup from Carouthers.

The Lancers, however, battled back with seven unanswered points to lead 58-54 with 2:28 remaining on a pair of free throws from Morgan. It was a three-pointer from Sumter at 3:49 that put LU ahead or good (56-54). Pompey, though, made a three-pointer to make it 58-57 (2:11) before sophomore Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) made two free throws with 1:10 left for a 60-57 home lead. Pompey’s layup made it 60-59 with 20-seconds remaining, and after sophomore Brandon Giles/Gaithersburg, Md. (Magruder) missed the front end of a one-and-one at 00:14.5 for the hosts, Carouthers missed a potential game-winning shot with three-seconds on the clock.

Longwood led 35-33 at the intermission as Sumter scored 15 first-half points while making 6-6 shots from the floor, including 2-2 on three-pointers, and 1-2 free throws. The Lancers jumped ahead 8-2 at 15:34 as Smith scored four quick points. IPFW used an 8-1 run to lead 10-9 (13:21), and the game went back and forth with 11 lead changes the remainder of the period. The largest lead by either team down the first-half stretch was four points for LU late at 35-31 (00:46) on three-straight free throws by Giles who had been fouled on a three-point attempt. Pompey’s buzzer-beating jumper made it a two-point game at the break.

Sumter led Longwood with his season-high 28 points, making 12-16 shots from the field, including 3-5 three-pointers, adding seven rebounds while playing the entire 40 minutes. Morgan was the only other double-figure scorer for the Lancers with 12 points, adding nine rebounds. Smith finished with eight points and a game-high and career-high 10 rebounds, while Giles contributed five assists. LU shot 39% (22-57) from the field, including 29% (4-14) on three-pointers, and 86% (12-14) at the free throw line. The Lancers out-rebounded IPFW 41-36.

Carouthers and Pompey each had 15 points to lead IPFW, while Hawkins added 12 points. Tyler Best (6-9), who scored 35 points in the earlier meeting in Indiana (won by the Mastodons 92-90 in overtime), was limited to just four points in this game though he had six assists. IPFW shot 40% (23-57) from the field, including 24% (5-21) on three-pointers, and 50% (8-16) at the line.