FARMVILLE, Va. – In a battle of two hot-shooting backcourts, Columbia's Quinton Adlesh and Mike Smith both topped 20 points to overcome a career-high 32-point night from Longwood redshirt junior Isaiah Walton and a double-double from redshirt senior point guard B.K. Ashe to outlast Longwood 87-77 Tuesday evening in Willett Hall.
 
Those four took turns setting off fireworks on Longwood's home court, dueling in a back-and-forth matchup that featured a combined 24 three-pointers and was within four points with under three minutes to play.
 
However, Adlesh's first-half performance led the Lions to a 46-35 halftime lead that gave the Lions (1-1) enough of a cushion to outlast Walton and Ashe's response in the second half. Adlesh finished with five of Columbia's 16 three-pointers, including four in the first half, and Smith closed out the win with 12 second-half points.
 
"The three-point shot made all the difference," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee. "They just made threes. We were unable to contain penetration enough to stop them from doing that."
 
Longwood (0-2) overcame an eight-point deficit to claim the lead in the first half, and then – thanks to a 22-point second half from Walton – trimmed a 13-point deficit to two in the second half. However, Columbia's firepower proved too much, as forward Lukas Meisner hit a three-pointer with 2:48 remaining to turn a four-point game into three possessions, putting the Lancers away for good.
 
Longwood scored on just one of its final five possessions while Adlesh and Smith combined for Columbia's final five points.
 
"We had the ability to play well, but we played in spurts too many times," said the 6-1, 160-pound Ashe, who in his second game as a Lancer recorded his third career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. "At the end of the first half we were down three, but then we ended up being down 11. We came back, but we just can't play so roller-coaster. We have to put together a full 40 minutes like that."
 
Walton and Ashe teamed up to dig Longwood out of that 11-point deficit after halftime, trimming Columbia's double-digit lead to 68-66 at the 9:47 mark. In that first 10 minutes after the break, Walton scored 20 points, while Ashe scored five and dished three assists, including two Walton three-pointers, to engineer a 28-19 run.
 

Isaiah Walton has a career-high 30 points, including this teardrop, and BK Ashe has his third career double-double! Lancers trail Columbia 76-69 w/ 7:02 to play. #GoWood pic.twitter.com/0hRBYu6Br6

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) November 15, 2017

However, Columbia's steady shooting and repeated run-stopping buckets kept the momentum from swinging too far in Longwood's direction.
 
"It's about doing the little things," Gee said. "We had chances we cut the lead, and then we'd break down and have a mental mistake, and they'd make a three. Minimizing those breakdowns is what we have to work on moving forward."
 
Columbia shot .476 (30-of-6) from the field and .410 (16-of-39) from three-point range. Meisner added 12 points and 16 rebounds, while the Lions bench chipped in 21 points.
 
"Everybody sees that we can be a really good team when we put our minds to it, but the problem right now is we just can't get stops when we really need them," Ashe said. "When we're able to big stops, we'll be able to beat teams like this."

The new-look Lancers improved across the board from the season opener against Stephen F. Austin, shooting .482 (27-of-56) from the floor, outscoring Columbia 30-22 in the paint and committing just 10 turnovers. Fourth-year team captain Damarion Geter, reinvigorated after missing all but three games over the past two seasons due to injury, added a career-high 11 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
 

Damarion Geter won't be denied. He has a career-high 10 points as Longwood trails Columbia 79-74 w/ under 4 to play. #GoWood pic.twitter.com/NgCG3WxgxT

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) November 15, 2017

 
Said Ashe, Longwood is still learning to play together while breaking in eight new players and two others – Ashe and redshirt sophomore forward Jahleem Montague – who both sat out the entirety of last season on the bench.
 
"When I was at The Mount, we won a championship and we started off 0-8," said Ashe, a two-time All-Northeast Conference guard at Mount St. Mary's who transferred to Longwood in the summer of 2016. "It's still preseason for us right now. Let's reach our peak in March, in February. This is still the learning stage. The wins will come, but let's just try to keep learning every game."
 
Longwood's next opportunity to climb that learning curve comes this Saturday, Nov. 18, when Saint Francis (Pa.) makes the trip to Willett Hall for a 3 p.m. tipoff. That game will air on the Big South Network and WVHL 92.9 FM Kickin' Country.
 
#GoWood