Box Score
LYNCHBURG, Va. – John Caleb Sanders scored 22 points to lead Liberty University to a 90-76 Big South Conference North Division victory past Longwood University on Tuesday night at the Vines Center in Lynchburg. Antwan Burrus and Tomasz Gielo each added 20 points for the Flames (11-19, 5-10 Big South), who led 42-33 at halftime en route to their home win. Sophomore captain
Lucas Woodhouse/Greenlawn, New York scored a game-high 24 points to lead the visiting Lancers (8-22, 3-12 Big South), while senior captain
Tristan Carey/Colonial Beach added 20 points. Longwood returns home for its regular season finale against North Division opponent VMI on Saturday, March 1 at 4:30 p.m. at Willett Hall in Farmville on Senior Day.
"Their size really affected us on both ends of the court," said first-year Longwood head coach
Jayson Gee. "Unlike the first game, we weren't able to turn them over … they were really geared up and focused for our pressure and we weren't able to get any easy baskets out of turnovers."
Longwood led by as many as five points early at 15-10 with 14:46 left in the first half, getting six quick points from sophomore transfer
Leron Fisher/Baltimore, Maryland. Liberty answered with five-straight points to tie it at 15-15 with 12:44 on the clock after a three-point field goal from Gielo. The Lancers battled back to lead 24-23 at 9:17 on a layup by sophomore
Karl Ziegler/Annandale, but the Flames responded with a 12-2 run to lead 35-26 with 5:30 left until halftime. Sanders scored five quick points during the outburst, while Gielo made another three-pointer. A three-pointer from Carey at 2:15 had the visitors within 37-33, before the hosts closed the half with the final five points, including Gielo's third triple, to lead 42-33 at the intermission.
Longwood closed to within six points to begin the second half on a three-pointer by Woodhouse, but Liberty answered back with seven-straight points to lead 49-36 at 17:48, getting a three-pointer from Sanders and a pair of layups from Andrew Smith. The Lancers, however, continued to battle and were within 59-51 at 10:33 after a layup by Carey during a stretch that Woodhouse added two more three-pointers and Carey had a tip-in. The Flames responded with seven-straight points again to lead 66-51 with 9:20 remaining, before Longwood made one more push to pull within 68-59 at 8:19 on a jumper from redshirt-junior
Jeylani Dublin/Brooklyn, New York. Liberty, though, used a 14-6 run to take its largest lead at 82-65 with 2:54 left, as Sanders scored seven of the points and Burrus added six quick points, and the two teams played evenly from there to the end.
Woodhouse led Longwood with his game-high 24 points, including 6-13 three-pointers. Carey finished with 20 points, including 4-12 three-pointers, adding five rebounds for the Lancers. He now totals 1,470 career points to move up to 7th all-time, and ranks 2nd all-time with 228 career three-pointers. Ziegler had 12 points and five rebounds. Longwood shot 42% (28-67) from the field, including 38% (12-32) on three-pointers and 67% (8-12) at the free throw line.
Sanders led Liberty with his 22 points, making 3-5 three-pointers. Burrus and Gielo each had 20 points for the Flames, with Burrus making 10-15 field goals, and Gielo making 4-7 three-pointers. Smith finished with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. LU shot 58% (34-59) from the field, including 41% (7-17) on three-pointers and 68% (15-22) at the line.
Longwood and Liberty were meeting for the 29th time since 1977-78, and the Lancers still lead the series, 19-10. The Flames, however, maintain a 9-5 advantage against Longwood in games played in Lynchburg, including three-straight wins since the Lancers moved to Division I for 2007-08 (91-67, 11/27/07; 74-47, 1/22/13).
