The Opening Tip
•   Longwood begins the 2017-18 season with a bang, hosting mid-major powerhouse Stephen F. Austin in Willett Hall on Nov. 11, 2017. The Lancers also faced the perennial Southland Conference frontrunner last season in the ESPN College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon.Â
•   Saturday's game is the first of three straight home games to start the year for the Lancers. They follow by hosting Columbia on Tuesday, Nov. 14, and Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Nov. 18.
•   Six of Longwood's first eight games are at home.
•   The Lancers enter the season with their largest roster in program history, a collection of 17 players that includes nine returners from last season and eight newcomers. Longwood has a combined 11 upperclassmen (graduates, seniors & juniors) on the roster, tied for the most in the Big South.
•   Longwood is 3-1 in home openers under head coach
Jayson Gee. The Lancers won three straight home openers before falling to Maine, 80-58, in last year's opener.
•   Longwood will host "Salute to Service" day Saturday to honor current and former military personnel. Service members with a valid military ID will receive free admission to the game as well as tickets discounted at $3 for their family.
•   Saturday's season-opener will also be a "Blue-Out" for Longwood's student body with the first 1,000 in attendance receiving a Longwood blue Lancer basketball t-shirt.
•   Saturday's game will be Longwood's first opener on the recently dedicated Jerome Kersey Court, which Longwood named in honor of its most prominent athletics alumnus on Dec. 3, 2016.
By The Numbers
•   Longwood enters the 2017-18 season with its biggest roster in program history. Seventeen players make up this year's team, 12 of which are in at least their third year of college basketball. The Lancers have two seniors/graduates, nine juniors, three sophomores — including one third-year sophomore — and three freshmen, including one redshirt freshman.
•   Longwood is 2-2 in series openers under head coach
Jayson Gee. Both of those season-opening wins came at home.
•   Returning from Longwood's starting lineup last season are redshirt junior guard Isaiah Walton, junior forward Chris Shields and sophomore forward JaShaun Smith. Those three combined to average 26.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game last season.
•   Isaiah Walton is Longwood's returning leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals from last season. A transfer from UC Davis and Iowa Western before 2016-17, Walton averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in his first year as a Lancer. He was one of only two Big South players to average at least 10.0 points, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game, joining All-Big South selection LaQuincy Rideau.
•   Fourth-year team captain
Damarion Geter is back in the fold after missing the bulk of the 2016-17 season with a broken foot. Geter, who also missed the entire 2015-16 season with a shoulder injury, started Longwood's first three games but broke his foot in the first half of game three against Salem International. Geter played in every game of his first two seasons at Longwood.
•   Two members of Longwood's team — B.K. Ashe and Charles Glover — have NCAA Tournament experience. Both Mount St. Mary's transfers, Ashe made it to the 2014-15 tournament at The Mount, while Glover made it in both 2014-15 and 2016-17.
#GoWood
