12.22.2010
BOX SCORE
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Longwood University fell 78-71 to SIU Edwardsville in men's basketball Wednesday afternoon during the 2010 iBN Sports|Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lancers (3-11) dropped their ninth-straight game while led by junior
Antwan Carter|St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) with a game-high and career-high 24 points. The Cougars (3-11) made 11-16 three-point field goals while led by Corey Wickware with 23 points. The closely-played contest witnessed nine ties and 14 lead changes throughout before SIUE outscored LU 19-12 following the last tie at 59-59, including 7-2 over the final 1:36. Longwood will play South Carolina State University on Thursday, December 23, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET in the seventh-place game of the exempt tournament.
Longwood jumped out to an early 14-6 lead just 4:55 into the game as Carter scored seven quick points among four players scoring, including a three-point field goal by redshirt-junior
Durann Neil|Pleasantville, N.J. (Leap Academy). The Lancers led 21-16 at 12:33 after a three-pointer from senior
Aaron Mitchell|Matoaca (Manatee CC), but SIUE used a 12-2 run to take a 28-23 lead at 7:52 as Wickware made two three-pointers. LU responded with seven unanswered points to lead 30-28 at 6:11 as Neil made another three-pointer followed by a basket inside from Carter and a layup from Mitchell. The contest went back-and-forth with each team scoring on layups in the final 30-seconds of the half for a 41-41 tie at the intermission.
The opening period ended in bizarre fashion when it appeared a Longwood player was fouled on a three-point attempt at the buzzer, though no call was made to the disbelief of the LU bench, which in turn was assessed a technical foul that led to SIUE making 1-2 free throws before the second half began to lead 42-41.
Longwood opened the second half with a conventional three-play by Mitchell to lead 44-42 at 19:52, and it was 48-47 after a layup from Carter at 17:16, before a Carter tip-in at 15:02 tied it at 50-50. SIUE got consecutive three-pointers from Cody Rincker to lead 56-51 at 13:41, but the Lancers battled back again and tied the game for the final time at 59-59 with 11:13 left. Junior transfer
Jeremiah Bowman|Washington, D.C. (Harcum JC) scored six of the eight points, including another old-fashioned three-point play, but missed a free throw following his layup at 11:13 on another three-point play opportunity that would have put LU back in front. The Cougars responded with seven-straight points to lead 66-59 at 8:27 that was capped by Wickware's sixth three-pointer. Longwood fought back to within 71-69 at 1:57 after an offensive putback by Mitchell, but SIUE secured the outcome when Rincker made his fourth three-pointer at the end of the shot-clock with 35-seconds remaining.
Carter led Longwood with his game-high and career-high 24 points, adding seven rebounds. Bowman finished with 16 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and three assists for the Lancers. Mitchell added 15 points and seven rebounds, Neil had 10 points off the bench, and junior
Jan van der Kooij|Tiendeveen, The Netherlands (Roelof van Echten) grabbed a game-high and career-high 10 rebounds. LU shot 36.9% (24-65) from the field, including 18.8% (3-16) on three-pointers, and 76.9% (20-26) at the free throw line.
Wickware led SIUE with his 23 points (6-9 3FGs), including 17 points in the first half. Kevin Stineman added 14 points, Rincker (4-5 3FGs) finished with 12 points off the bench, and Nikola Bundalo had 10 points for the Cougars. SIUE shot 54.2% (26-48) from the field, including 68.8% (11-16) on three-pointers, and 57.7% (15-26) at the line.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the sport of men's basketball. South Carolina State lost to The Citadel 67-57 in a game played immediately after Longwood's contest against SIUE.
