Box Score
CONWAY, S.C. – Junior captain
Tristan Carey/Colonial Beach scored a game-high 21 points, freshmen
Lucas Woodhouse/Greenlawn, New York and
Karl Ziegler/Annandale each scored 17 points, a career-high for Ziegler off the bench, and junior captain
David Robinson/Chesterfield had 15 points to lead Longwood University to an 87-72 first-round victory past two-time defending champion UNC Asheville in the 2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men's Basketball Championship Tuesday afternoon in Conway, South Carolina. The Lancers (8-24), seeded No. 6 in the North Division, led the Bulldogs (16-16), seeded No. 3 in the South Division, 47-35 at halftime and made 25-26 free throws en route to the win in the program's first-ever Division I post-season conference tournament game, also the program's biggest Division I win ever. Jeremy Atkinson scored 19 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to lead Asheville. Longwood will play VMI, the No. 2 seed from the North, in a quarterfinal contest on Thursday, March 7 at 2 p.m. at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina.
Longwood allowed Asheville the first basket of the game before Robinson made the first of his four three-pointers for an early 3-2 lead at 17:59. While the contest would be tied on three occasions in the first half, the Lancers never trailed over the final 37:59. The final tie of the game came at 13:33 at 12-12 before Longwood used a 16-7 run to lead 28-19 at 11:33 on a three-pointer by Carey, who scored 10 points during the two-minute outburst. The Bulldogs closed to 28-26 at 7:54, but the Lancers put together a quick 12-3 run to extend the advantage to 40-29 at 3:09 on another three-pointer from Robinson. Atkinson and Keith Hornsby answered with two baskets to make it 40-33 with 2:10 left until halftime, before Longwood closed the half with a 7-2 run to lead 47-35 at the break. Carey had 17 points and a career-high six steals at the intermission, and Woodhouse had 11 points, while Atkinson and Jon Nwannunu each had seven first-half points.
Asheville, who won at St. John's (72-65) and only fell by two points at nationally-ranked North Carolina State (82-80) earlier this season, scored the first eight points of the second half to close to within 47-43 at 15:49. Robinson, however, stopped the run with his fourth three-pointer at 15:06, a shot that slowed the momentum by the Bulldogs. The Lancers went on a 10-4 run to lead 57-47 at 12:35 as Ziegler scored the final five points, including an old-fashioned three-point play. A pair of free throws by Woodhouse made it 69-57 with 6:39 remaining, before Asheville made a final push and managed to get to within 71-68 at 3:41 on a layup from Atkinson, who scored 12 second-half points. Freshman
Michael Kessens/Nyon, Switzerland answered with a three-point play at the other end at 3:29, starting a decisive 13-2 run the secured the contest for Longwood, with Kessens scoring seven of the late points for an 84-70 margin at 1:23. Ziegler (2-2) and Robinson (1-2) closed the scoring for the Lancers at the free throw line.
Carey led Longwood with his game-high 21 points, including three, three-pointers and the game-high and career-high six steals. Woodhouse and Ziegler each score 17 points, with Woodhouse adding a game-high seven assists and five rebounds, while Ziegler's scoring was a career-high, off the bench, for the Lancers. Robinson finished with 15 points, including the four three-pointers, Kessens had nine points and 10 rebounds, and redshirt-sophomore
Jeylani Dublin/Brooklyn, New York contributed eight points and five rebounds. LU shot 47% (27-57) from the field, including 42% (8-19) on three-pointers and 96% (25-26) at the free throw line.
Atkinson led Asheville with his 19 points, adding a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Hornsby had 14 points for the Bulldogs. Nwannunu and Will Weeks each added 11 points. Asheville shot 36% (26-72) from the field, including 12% (2-17) on three-pointers and 72% (18-25) at the line.
"I want to congratulate Longwood for playing so well today," veteran Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach told UNCABulldogs.com afterwards. "They played with a lot of emotion and did the things you need to do to win in a tournament. We didn't look past them because Longwood played us tough at our place. We knew this would be a tough game and it certainly was. Longwood deserves all the credit today. They played great in all phases of the game."
Asheville had won the past two-straight Big South Conference Tournament Championships to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Bulldogs nearly upset Big East Conference power Syracuse University. The loss ended a six-game Asheville winning streak in Big South Tournament games. It also marked the first time the Bulldogs will not be in the semifinals of the league tournament since 2006.
Longwood and Asheville were playing for just the fourth time since 1985-86, and it was the Lancers' first-ever win against the Bulldogs, who lead the series, 3-1. Longwood avenged a 68-65 road setback at Asheville on January 19. The Lancers have won five of their last eight games, including five of seven against Big South schools.
Longwood and VMI met twice during the regular season with the Keydets winning 93-60 in Farmville on February 6 and 94-80 in Lexington last Saturday, March 2.
2013 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men's Basketball Championship photo credits to Shawn LaFata and Jordon Drexler.
