December 14, 2009

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University took an 87-69 home men's basketball victory past the University of Virginia's College at Wise Monday night at Willett Hall in Farmville. The Lancers (2-9) scored the first 12 points of the game and led by as many as 29 points midway through the second half while led by redshirt-senior Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton) with a game-high and season-high 23 points. The NAIA Highland Cavaliers (5-5) were led by the Sam Eligwe with 15 points off the bench. Longwood will play again this Saturday, December 19, hosting NAIA Virginia Intermont at Willett Hall in Farmville beginning at 2 p.m..

Longwood jumped ahead early with 12 unanswered points to lead 12-0 at 16:57 as senior Billy Robinson Jr./Columbia, Md. (Hammond) scored six points and Smith added four quick points. Virginia-Wise called timeout and went to a zone defense and managed to close to within 16-7 at 14:51 as Eligwe came off the bench to score five points. The Lancers led 23-12 at 8:15 after a three-point field goal from senior Kevin Swecker/Manchester, Md. (Mount Saint Joseph). The Highland Cavaliers once-again closed to 24-17 at 6:30 before LU outscored UVA-Wise 12-9 to finish the half for a 36-26 lead at the intermission. Smith and Swecker each had 10 points at the break for the hosts.

Longwood took complete control of the contest to start the second half as Smith scored eight quick points for a 44-29 lead at 18:10. The Lancers extended their advantage to 20-plus points (50-29, 15:38) on another basket inside by Smith, and maintained a 20-plus point margin for the remainder of the half until a last-second (00:07) field goal by Virginia-Wise. LU took its largest lead at 70-41 with 9:17 on the clock on a jumper from sophomore Jan van der Kooij/Tiendeveen, The Netherlands (Roelof van Echten). The Cavs scored 22 points over the final 6:54 to narrow the final margin, mostly against the blue and white reserves.  In addition to Smith's 13 second-half points, sophomore Antwan Carter/St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) added 12 second-half points for the hosts.

Smith led Longwood with his season-high and game-high 23 points, adding six rebounds and four steals in 25 minutes. Carter finished 16 points and a career-high and game-high 13 rebounds off the bench for the Lancers, his second double-double this season, adding a career-high and game-high three blocks as well. Robinson had a season-high 15 points, adding nine rebounds, while Swecker added 10 points and five assists. Sophomore Martiz Washington/Hopewell (Christchurch) contributed eight points and a career-high and game-high six assists. LU shot 44% (36-81) from the field, including 19% (4-21) on three-pointers, and 50% (11-22) at the free throw line.

Eligwe led Virginia-Wise with his 15 points off the bench while playing in his first game of the season. Travis Berry had 13 points for the Highland Cavaliers. UVA-Wise shot 42% (22-53) from the field, including 38% (8-21) on three-pointers, and 81% (17-21) at the line.  Longwood forced 25 turnovers by the visitors which led to 30 points, also outscoring them 50-22 in the paint and 27-5 on second-chance points from 23 offensive rebounds.

Longwood now leads the all-time series between the two schools at 9-1 since 1978, including nine-straight wins.