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FARMVILLE, Va. – Led by five double-figure scorers and a double-double from Shaquille Johnson, Longwood routed Cairn 90-52 in the final non-conference game of the season Monday evening at Willett Hall.
 
Johnson neared a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes of action to lead a Longwood (4-10) team that outscored the visiting Highlanders 54-23 after halftime. That second-half onslaught saw the Lancers hit 23-of-35 (.657) shots from the field en route to their largest margin of victory since a 111-62 win over Montreat on Nov. 22, 2010.
 
"Having multiple guys in double figures and the rebounding margin, I was really pleased with that," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee. "One of our points of emphasis was to dominate the rebounding against this team. We had superior size, and I thought 51 rebounds to 25, we did that."
 
Key to that dominance in the paint was a well-rested Longwood lineup that returned to its home court after nearly a week-long holiday break and four straight games. The Lancers made use of their fresh legs, outscoring Cairn 60-8 in the paint and generating 10 points on fast breaks. Johnson led the charge, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field while dishing seven assists that led to 15 points.
 
Cairn (5-5) shot just .317 (20-of-63) from the field and 9-of-33 (.273) from three-point range for the game against a Longwood defense that forced 19 turnovers and registered 11 steals and six blocks. Darrion Allen keyed that effort for the Lancers with four steals and a block and teamed with Johnson to effect Cairn into 4-of-20 (.200) shooting from the perimeter in the second half.
 
Johnson helped put the game out of reach early in the second half, keying a 16-0 run after halftime with four points, three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal during that span of 6:29. The 16 unanswered points ballooned a seven-point halftime lead to 23.
 
"Shaq getting the ball inside and finishing for us enabled us to really dominate inside," said Gee. "He was explosive tonight. He really demonstrated his elite athleticism.
 
"What I like about Shaq right now is the attitude he's approaching games and practice, the positivity he's generating for himself and this team. It goes a long way."
 
Two of Johnson's career-high seven assists went to center Lotanna Nwogbo, who threw down four dunks and scored 14 points. The performance was a continuation of Nwogbo's rounding into his Big South Preseason All-Conference form after spending the first half of the season working back from offseason ankle surgery.
 
"Lotanna was really good and physical tonight," Gee said. "He came back from break with a bit more bounce. We hope the stiffness and the difficulties he's had physically are behind him, and we want to keep him moving that way. When he moves that way, he's really effective. Tonight was a great example of that, just dominating in the paint."
 
Nwogbo hit 7-of-11 field goals in just 20 minutes of action to put together his team-leading 11th double-figure scoring game of the season. He provided the highlight of the night in the first half when he sprinted up the court on a fast break, hauled in a cross-court outlet pass from Johnson with one hand and slammed it home, in stride and uncontested.
 
"After this little break, I've been feeling a lot better," Nwogbo said. "I needed those couple days off."
 
Nwogbo and Johnson were two of Longwood's five double-figure scorers, joining Khris Lane who netted a team-high 16 points, Darrion Allen who had 14, and Chris Shields who added 11 off the bench. Lane and Shields's combined 25 points were part of a season-best 37 points from Longwood's bench.
 
Cairn guard Gerroid Doughty led the Highlanders with 17 points, while JD Zamroz was the only other double-digit scorer with 10 points.
 
The Lancers now have just three days to prepare for the start of the Big South portion of their schedule, which begins when UNC Asheville comes to Willett Hall on New Year's Eve for a 2 p.m. game. The game will be Longwood's first conference bout since dropping the early Big South opener 90-66 at High Point on Dec. 2 and will put to the test a Longwood team that was picked to finish sixth in the conference standings according to the Big South preseason media poll.
 
"Our mindset is good," said Nwogbo of beginning conference play. "We just had a good defensive performance, and we want to build off that for the next game. Hopefully we can just keep building on that the rest of the season."
 
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