January 5, 2006
BOX SCORE
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Longwood University dropped a hard-fought 92-90 overtime men’s basketball decision at IPFW Thursday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Lancers (3-13) were led by junior Michael Jefferson/Chesterfield (Meadowbrook) with 21 points, while the Mastodons (4-11) got a career-high 35 points from Tyler Best. Longwood will play again on Saturday, Jan. 7, at Valparaiso University in Indiana at 8:05 p.m. ET.
The closely-played contest featured 10 lead-changes and nine ties during the 45 minutes of hard competition. Longwood took control early with the first basket of the game by junior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams), a three-point field goal for an early 3-0 lead. The Lancers led 17-9 at 13:51 on another three-pointer from sophomore Lamar Barrett/Providence, R.I. (St. Andrews). LU increased its margin to double-digits at 27-17 with 10:45 left in the first half on a basket from Jefferson. A triple from freshman Bryan Butler/Woodbridge (Potomac) had the visitors ahead 38-31 at 4:54, and Longwood led 43-42 at the intermission as sophomore Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) made a late first-half layup. IPFW was able to stay in the contest behind 23 first-half points from Best.
Another layup, this time from Sumter, gave Longwood a 53-48 advantage at 16:16 of the second half. The Lancers maintained the advantage, leading 73-67 with 9:21 remaining on an old-fashioned three-point play from junior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute). IPFW, however, used a 9-0 run to take a 76-73 lead at 5:48 as Quintin Carouthers scored six quick points. A Jefferson three-pointer tied the game at 76-76 (4:59), but Justin Hawkins answered with a three to give the Mastodons a 79-76 lead (4:350. A pair of free throws from Carouthers made it 81-78 at 2:32, but a free throw from Sumter (2:07) and a layup from Morgan (1:23) made it 81-81. IPFW missed a three-pointer with 45-seconds remaining, and Barrett had a chance to win it for LU but missed a 12-foot baseline jumper on the left-side at two-seconds to send the game to OT.
IPFW led during the first 2:36 of the extra period before Longwood regained the lead at 87-86 with 2:24 left on a jumper from Barrett. The Mastodons came right back, though, to lead 88-87 at 1:37 on a layup from Best, and went ahead 92-87 with 21-seconds remaining on consecutive baskets from Carouthers. A Barrett three-pointer made it 92-90 at 13-seconds, and after forcing a turnover, the Lancers had possession with an opportunity to tie or win the game but committed their own miscue to allow the hosts to escape with the homecourt victory.
Jefferson finished with 21 points to lead Longwood, playing 37 minutes on a pair of sore ankles after playing just 32 minutes in the previous two games combined while missing two games as well. Barrett had a season-high 16 points for the Lancers, adding season-highs of seven rebounds and five assists. Sumter and Morgan each contributed 13 points, with Sumter adding five assists and Morgan grabbing seven rebounds. Butler had 12 points of 4-6 shooting beyond the arc, while Smith finished with 10 points on perfect shooting from the floor (4-4 field goals, 2-2 three-pointers) in 17 minutes. LU shot 54% (36-67) from the field, including 55% (11-20) on three-pointers, and 58% (7-12) at the free throw line.
Best finished with a career-high of 35 points for IPFW, adding nine rebounds and four blocks while making 14-21 shots from the field. Scott DeWitt added 23 points and seven rebounds, making 7-8 from the field, including 4-4 on three-pointers, and Carouthers added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Mastodons. IPFW shot 53% (33-62) from the field, including 39% (7-18) on three-pointers, and 63% (19-30) at the line.
Longwood’s game at Valparaiso (Jan. 7, 8:05 p.m. ET) will be a re-match of a game won by the Crusaders (7-4) in Farmville on Dec. 20 by a score of 82-79.
