12.1.2010

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped an 88-78 men's basketball home decision to visiting in-state opponent James Madison University of the Colonial Athletic Association Wednesday night at sold-out Willett Hall in Farmville. Senior Aaron Mitchell|Matoaca (Manatee CC) led the host Lancers (3-5) with a career-high and game-high 28 points. Big 6-10, 260-pound NBA prospect Denzel Bowles led the visiting Dukes (6-1) to their sixth-straight win with a double-double of 22 points (10-10 FG) and a game-high 12 rebounds as JMU rallied from a 41-36 halftime deficit. It was the first-ever Live TV game from Willett Hall (1,807) on-campus as the highly-anticipated contest was nationally televised by Fox College Sports (FCS) before a hugely supportive and raucous record-crowd of 1,963. Longwood returns to action this Saturday, December 4, at Big East Conference member Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

Longwood took an early 5-2 lead at 18:37 following a three-point field goal from redshirt-junior Durann Neil| Pleasantville, N.J. (Leap Academy). JMU battled back with a 12-6 run to lead 14-11 at 13:33 sparked by two three-pointers from Humpty Hitchens. The Lancers responded with a 16-5 run to take their largest lead of the game at 27-19 with 9:08 left in the half as Mitchell scored six quick points. It was still an eight-point advantage at 39-31 with 3:09 on the clock after two free throws by Mitchell. LU?led 41-36 at the break as Mitchell tallied 14 first-half points for the hosts during an opening stanza that featured six lead changes and five ties.

Longwood maintained the margin early in the second half, leading 59-53 at 12:07 following another driving basket inside from Mitchell. JMU, however, answered with 12 consecutive points that Bowles capped with one of his four dunks to take a 65-59 lead with 8:46 on the clock. The Dukes extended the run to 24-6 for their largest lead of the night at 77-65 at 4:28. LU fought back once-again with a 10-4 run to within 81-75 at 1:29 behind seven points from Neil, including another three-pointer for the six-point margin. The visitors secured their come-from-behind road win with 5-6 free throws over the final 33-seconds much to the disappointment of the unbelievably loud capacity crowd in the jam-packed facility while on TV.

"The environment in Willett Hall is exactly what college basketball is all about,” said eighth-year head coach Mike Gillian. “The crowd was incredible, the game was well played between two evenly matched teams and the only thing that could have been better is if we would have come out with a win. Our Longwood students took their pride and spirit for this fabulous institution to a whole new level. There are not enough ways to say how much we appreciate the support everyone shows our program when they turn out to watch us play.

"Denzel Bowles is a phenomenal college player, and in a game like that, he does what he is capable of doing. He's 10-for-10 from he floor. He makes free throws. We know they're going to throw the ball to him, and try to do that. Antwan Carter is a phenomenal college player. Those guys should be on the court playing against each other in a tight game in the last six minutes and let's see what happens, but that wasn't the case."

Mitchell led Longwood with his career-high and game-high 28 points (12-18 FG), adding eight rebounds. Neil finished with 13 points (3-7 3FG), while juniors Antwan Carter|St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) and Jeremiah Bowman|Washington, D.C. (Harcum College) each had 11 points for the Lancers before each fouled out with nearly seven minutes remaining. Carter added 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double, while Bowman dished a game-high six assists. LU shot 49.2% (31-63) from the field, including 40.0% (8-20) on three-pointers, and 66.7% (8-12) at the free throw line.

Bowles led James Madison with double-double of 22 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Hitchens had 18 points and five assists for the Dukes. Devon Moore finished with 16 points, 6-6, 275-pound Rayshawn Goins added 13 points, and Andrey Semenov had 10 points off the bench. JMU shot 54.1% (33-61) from the field, including 44.4% (8-18) on three-pointers, and 73.7% (14-19) at the line. The visitors forced 18 LU turnovers that were converted into 27 points.

Longwood and JMU were playing for the sixth time in the sport of men's basketball as the Dukes lead the series at 4-2 with two-straights wins while earning the first win in the series by one school on the other school's home floor.

Quote from senior captain Aaron Mitchell: "It was a great atmosphere tonight with everyone coming out and showing their support.  We worked hard in practice and were able to get the shots we wanted."

Quote from junior Antwan Carter: "It's important for Longwood to get bigger name schools to come and play us at home."