December 19, 2006
BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Longwood University dropped an 83-53 men’s basketball road decision at the University of Southern California Tuesday night in the second-round of the 2006 Findlay Toyota/Las Vegas Classic at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The Lancers (3-10) were led by senior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) with a team-high 15 points, while the Trojans (9-2) were led by Nick Young and Lodrick Stewart with 17 points each. Longwood will play its third game in the exempt four-game tournament against Charleston Southern University on Friday, December 22, at 3 p.m. ET at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Longwood fell behind 6-0 during the first 1:56 before closing to within 14-11 with 13:41 remaining in the first half. USC extended the advantage to 24-13 at 6:57 but a pair of free throws from senior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) had the Lancers within 26-17 late in the first half (4:31). The Trojans, however, ran off 10 unanswered points to lead 36-17 at 2:13, and finished the half on an 18-6 run to take control and lead comfortably, 44-23, at the intermission.
USC shot a torrid 73% (19-26) from the field during the opening 20 minutes while outscoring Longwood 30-12 in the paint. The bigger and more athletic Trojans extended their lead in the second half, leading by as many as 34 points (66-32, 11:03), and closed the contest with a 10-5 run over the final 2:47 to secure the 30-point home triumph. USC finished with a 42-20 edge on points in the paint, and a 29-17 advantage in bench pointS.
Sumter finished with a team-high 15 points to lead Longwood, the only Lancer to reach double-figure scoring, adding two steals and a block. Morgan just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, while junior Lamar Barrett/Providence, R.I. (St. Andrews) added nine points and six rebounds. LU shot 29% (20-68) from the field, including 26% (7-27) on three-point field goals, and 55% (6-11) at the free throw line. The Lancers did force 23 turnovers by the hosts that were converted into 16 points.
Young and Stewart each scored 17 points to lead USC, while Taj Gibson had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Trojans shot 57% (32-56) from the field, including 50% (4-8) on three-pointers, and 71% (15-21) at the line. USC also out-rebounded the Lancers 45-30, and tallied 20 points off of 16 turnovers by the visitors.
