FARMVILLE, Va. – Isaiah Blackmon scored a game-high 18 points, and Keith Braxton posted a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead Northeast Conference preseason favorite Saint Francis past Longwood 83-56 Saturday afternoon at Willett Hall.
Saint Francis' NEC Preseason All-Conference duo was part of a game-changing effort from the Red Flash (1-2) backcourt, combining for 34 of the 67 points poured in by Saint Francis' guards. The double-figure scoring game was the third straight for Blackmon, while Braxton's double-double was his first of the season and the 10th of his career.
Blackmon and Braxton's performance was enough to overcome a career-high 14 points from Longwood (0-3) freshman guard Kamil Chapman and a near-double-double from team captain
Damarion Geter, who joined Isaiah Walton as Longwood's double-figure scorers.
"We just have to get more," said Longwood head coach
Jayson Gee. "We have to get more out of guys that we're counting on to step up and do a better job. The game got away from us in spurts, and Saint Francis were able to put those spurts together, which is why they're picked preseason No. 1 in their conference."
Saint Francis turned the game around in the final seven minutes of the first half, opening a 15-7 run that turned a tied game into a 38-30 halftime lead. Blackmon had seven points during that stretch and sparked the rally with a go-ahead three-pointer at the 6:52 mark.
Braxton and Blackmon carried that momentum into the second half, combining for eight points in the first five minutes after halftime as the Red Flash ran the lead to double figures for the remainder of the game.
"Their depth really impacted us," Gee said. "They had [Mark] Flagg off the bench, [Malik] Harmon off the bench, and we just ran out of gas. Jahleem [Montague] – who I thought was off to a phenomenal start, four points, three rebounds in six minutes – had an issue, hopefully nothing that's too serious, but I thought that really affected us. And B.K. [Ashe] getting two fouls in the first half, that really made a difficult time for us."
For the second straight game, Longwood went without the post contributions of redshirt sophomore forward Jahleem Montague for the majority of the game. The 6-8, 230-pound forward racked up four points and three rebounds in his first six minutes of the first half but left the game with an injury and did not return.
Ashe also saw his minutes trimmed due to foul trouble in the first half, limiting the former All-NEC transfer – who averaged more than 10.0 points per game against Saint Francis in three years at Mount St. Mary's – to just four points in 21 minutes.
Without those two, Longwood struggled to match Saint Francis' pace, turning the ball over 20 times after committing a season-low 10 turnovers just one game earlier against Columbia. The Red Flash turned those giveaways into 20 points and took nearly 20 more field goal attempts than the Lancers.
The bright spots for Longwood came from Chapman, a 6-1, 185-pound freshman from Charlotte, N.C., and Geter, a four-year team captain who has rebounded from back-to-back season-ending injuries to jump out to the best start of his collegiate career.
Chapman, in only his third career outing, recorded his first double-figure scoring game while setting career highs in points, made field goals, three-pointers, free throws, rebounds and steals. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line and hit 2-of-6 shots from beyond the arc.
"You don't want to play a freshman 22 minutes, but I have to give him credit," Gee said of Chapman. "I was really proud of him. He played with confidence and toughness and some attitude. At the end of the day, that's what we needed."
Geter, meanwhile, finished just one rebound shy of what would have been his first career double-double, instead settling for his second straight double-figure scoring game and a career-high nine rebounds. He added three assists and a pair of blocks while playing a season-high 34 minutes
"If there's anybody that deserves success, it's
Damarion Geter," Gee said. "He's had tremendous trials. We have to find a way to get him help. We have to get him some help out there on the court so the next guy behind him is more productive. Eleven points and nine rebounds, almost a double-double, that's tremendous. I'm really happy for him. He's an example of where I think this team is headed."
Next up for the Lancers is a pre-Thanksgiving tournament in Greensboro, N.C., where they will face host UNCG and Delaware in the UNCG Spartan Classic on Nov. 21-22 at the Greensboro Coliseum. The tipoff against UNCG is slated for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, followed by Wednesday's 3 p.m. matchup against Delaware.
Longwood fans in the Greensboro area can cheer on their squad and rub shoulders with their fellow Lancers Tuesday at a pre-game gathering at the Natty Greene's Bar in the Greensboro Coliseum beginning at 6:30 p.m. To purchase tickets to the pre-game event and 7:30 p.m. game, visit
https://www.longwoodlink.com/2018-greensboro-mbb-pre-game-event.
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