January 18, 2009

COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Longwood University will play at Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member the University of Maryland in men's basketball Tuesday night, January 19, at 8 p.m. in the Comcast Center (17,950) in College Park, Maryland. The Lancers and Terrapins are meeting for the first-time ever. Longwood (4-14) is coached by seventh-year head coach Mike Gillian, and will be led by 6-5, 230-pound redshirt-senior guard/forward Dana Smith who is averaging 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds. Maryland (11-5) is coached by 21st-year head coach Gary Williams (32nd-year overall), and is led by 6-6 senior guard Greivis Vasquez (18.4 points, 6.3 assists). The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Plus (DIRECTV 643, Dish 448) and can be heard locally on WVHL Radio, Kickin' Country 92.9 FM, as well as the Internet via TEAMLINE, also linked at www.longwoodlancers.com.

Series History
Longwood and Maryland are meeting for the first-time ever in the sport of men's basketball. The Lancers are 0-9 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schools since 2004-05, having played road games previously at Virginia (0-5), Virginia Tech (0-2), Boston College (0-1), and Wake Forest (0-1).

A Look At Maryland
Maryland is coached by 21st-year Terrapins head coach Gary Williams who is in his 32nd-year overall. Maryland has a record of 11-5 after its 73-57 road win at Boston College on Saturday (1.16). The veteran Terps are led by seniors Greivis Vasquez (18.4 points, 6.3 assists), Landon Milbourne (14.3 points, 5.6 rebounds), and Eric Hayes (11.2 points). Also expected in the lineup are sophomore Sean Mosley (12.1 points, 5.7 rebounds) and freshman Jordan Williams (7.4 points, 7.7 rebounds).

A Look At Longwood
Longwood is 4-14 after its 75-63 road loss at South Dakota one week ago (Tuesday, 1.12). The Lancers are led by redshirt-senior Dana Smith (16.4 points, 7.2 rebounds) and sophomore Antwan Carter (14.2 points, 7.1 rebounds), the latter who has played off the bench this season. Also in the lineup will be seniors #E.J. Dawson# (3.5 points, 3.2 assists), Billy Robinson Jr. (7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds), and Kevin Swecker (7.5 points), along with junior Aaron Mitchell (8.1 points, 3.0 assists).

Head Coach Mike Gillian
Mike Gillian (North Adams State '86) was named the seventh head coach for men's basketball at Longwood on May 2, 2003. Prior to his arrival, he had been an assistant coach for Jim Larranaga at George Mason for six years (1997-2003) after a year with Coach Larranaga at Bowling Green State (1996-97). A native of Ayer, Massachusetts, Coach Gillian is 55-144 at Longwood, including last year's 17-14 record while earning 2009 Independent Coach of the Year honors from CollegeInsider.com. He had back-to-back 9-22 seasons the previous two years (2007-08, 2006-07), those efforts following a record of 10-20 during 2005-06 that tied for Division I's seventh-best turnaround season that year. The Lancers were 1-30 during 2004-05, their first year playing against a full Division I schedule.

Team Captains
Dana Smith and Kevin Swecker were named team captains by head coach Mike Gillian for 2009-10. Smith is a sixth-year team member and is serving in this team leadership role for the second-straight season. Swecker is a fourth-year team member and first-time team captain.

A Homecoming Of Sort
Longwood has six team members from the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metro areas, including senior starters Dana Smith (Woodbridge, Va.), #E.J. Dawson# (Fort Belvoir, Va.), Billy Robinson Jr. (Columbia, Md.), and Kevin Swecker (Manchester, Md.). The other two are junior Ian Persaud (Landover, Md.) and freshman walk-on Stephen Shockley (Leesburg, Va.). Additionally, Swecker graduated one year ahead of Maryland junior Dino Gregory from Mount Saint Joseph high school in Baltimore.

The Unkind Road
Longwood has traveled to 28 different states and Washington, D.C. while playing 104 games away from Farmville during the last five-plus years of Division I scheduling, including 88 true road games (8-80). The Lancers' favorite state to visit since 2004-05 is North Carolina for nine games (1-8) against the likes of Appalachian State (1), Campbell, (2), High Point (3), North Carolina A&T (1), North Carolina Central (1), and Wake Forest (1). The 16 neutral-site games (4-12) have been played in eight different cities, including Atlantic City (0-1), Charleston, S.C. (1-0), Chicago (0-2), Las Vegas (3-3), Lincoln, Neb. (0-2), New York City (0-1), San Francisco (0-1), and South Padre Island, Texas (0-2).

Road Warriors Again
Longwood will play 19 games away from home this season, including the two neutral-site contests in Texas for the South Padre Island Invitational. The Lancers will visit nine different states during 2009-10, including California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas, though adding just one new state (South Dakota) to their list that began in 2004-05 with Division I scheduling.

Mileage To Date: 12,337
Including this trip north to College Park, Maryland, Longwood has traveled approximately 12,337 miles to date this season for games away from Farmville. This includes 4,721 miles on charter buses, and 7,616 miles on airplanes. For some perspective, it is approximately 2,675 miles from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, California, thus, the Lancers have traveled the equivalent of 4.61 trips across the United States from East Coast to West Coast already this season. Unfortunately, Longwood still has five road trips remaining after returning home from Maryland, and when all is said and done, the Lancers will have traveled approximately 15,016 miles during 2009-10. Even more unfortunate, such travel and mileage is nothing new to the Division I Independent program as the 2004-05 team traveled approximately 21,222 miles that season.

For more game notes and statistical information, please download and open the above-linked PDF ...