November 13, 2009

BOX SCORE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped an 85-72 men's basketball decision on the road at the University of Virginia Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. It was the season-opening game for each school as the Lancers (0-1) were led by sophomore Antwan Carter/St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) with 18 points. The Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (1-0) were led by last year's ACC Rookie of the Year Sylven Landesberg with a game-high 23 points. Longwood will play its home opener this Sunday afternoon, November 15, hosting Navy at Willett Hall on-campus in Farmville beginning at 4 p.m..

At Virginia, Longwood trailed just 22-18 with 7:53 left in the first half following a three-point field goal by sophomore Martiz Washington/Hopewell (Christchurch). The Cavaliers finally took control of the opening 20 minutes with a 27-9 run over the final 7:37 of the period, including 22-6 over the last 4:08, to lead 49-27 at the intermission. Sammy Zeglinski led the fast finish with eight points, including a pair of late three-pointers for the hosts. UVA shot 59% (17-29) from the field, including 56% (5-9) on three-pointers, and 77% (10-13) at the free throw line during the first half. Landesberg (12) and Zeglinski (11) combined for 23 points, while Carter scored 13 first-half points off the bench for the Lancers.

Longwood responded well at the break and fought back into the contest during the second half, reducing the margin to less than 10 points on four occasions over the final 10:17 while outscoring Virginia 45-36. The two teams played fairly even to start the final 20 minutes as the Cavaliers led 60-39 with 13:30 remaining before the Lancers began closing the deficit. A 14-2 run capped by a three-pointer from senior #E.J. Dawson#/Fort Belvoir (Mount Vernon) had the visitors within 62-53 at 10:17. It was 64-56 with 9:40 left after another three-pointer by Washington; a layup from senior Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) made it 72-63 at 6:29, and a three-pointer by junior Aaron Mitchell/Matoaca (Manatee CC) had LU within 75-66 with 4:10 left.  UVA, however, withstood the comeback attempt to win its first game under new head coach Tony Bennett as Landesberg scored on consecutive layups with just over three minutes remaining to help secure the win.

Carter led Longwood with his team-high 18 points (8-10 FG) and three steals off the bench. Senior Billy Robinson Jr./Columbia, Md. (Hammond) contributed 13 points (6-8 FG), five rebounds, and three steals for the Lancers, while Washington added 11 points and three assists off the bench as well, including 3-7 on three-pointers. Dawson and senior Kevin Swecker/Manchester, Md. (Mount Saint Joseph) each had 10 points with Dawson adding five assists while making 2-3 three-pointers. LU shot 48% (29-61) from the field, including 55% (17-31, 6-10 3FG) in the second half, 36% (8-22) on three-pointers, and 60% (6-10) at the line.  Smith, Swecker, and Mitchell did not score in the first half, and the three combined for just 18 second-half points as the trio finished a combined 7-26 from the field.

Landesberg led Virginia with his game-high 23 points, adding six rebounds, and four assists. Mustapha Farrakhan added 17 points for the Cavaliers, followed by Zeglinski with 14 points, Mike Scott with a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and Jeff Jones added 10 points as the hosts only played eight players in the game – seven in the second half. UVA shot 60% (30-50) from the field, including 43% (6-14) on three-pointers, and 79% (19-24) at the line for a big difference in the game.

Longwood is now 0-5 all-time against Virginia over the past five seasons of competing in Charlottesville.  Despite the difficult night for Smith, the Lancers' 13-point margin was much better than the average margin in the previous four meetings between the two schools (31.0).