FARMVILLE, Va. – For Isaiah Walton, there's no place like home.
 
The Big South's leading scorer erupted on his home court once again, going off for 29 points to power Longwood (2-5) past Bluefield State 84-59 Wednesday evening Willett Hall.
 
Walton, who scored 22 points three days prior against N.C. Wesleyan, connected on 10-of-15 shots from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range against the Big Blues (2-3) to lead five Lancers who scored in double figures. JaShaun Smith added 14 points, and the backcourt trio of B.K. Ashe, Kamil Chapman and Charles Glover scored 10 points apiece as Longwood had five double-digit scorers for the second straight game.
 
The 20-point outburst was Walton's fourth in six games this season, all of which have been on his home court. His 20.3 points lead the Big South, as do his four 20-point games. He finished just one point shy of recording what would have been his second 30-point game of the season.
 
"He's an elite scorer," Longwood head coach Jayson Gee said of Walton, who played AAU basketball with fellow Lancer and Gee's son Bryan in high school. "He shoots the ball extremely well, and he can really, really get going when he gets in a zone."
 
Walton got in that zone early, scoring 16 points in the first half including eight straight during a 16-0 run that broke the game open for Longwood. He followed with back-to-back three-point plays in the second half, drawing a foul on a made layup, sinking the ensuing free throw and then hitting a three-pointer on Longwood's next possession, all in a span of 23 seconds.
 

Isaiah Walton is ON ??!!! Beautiful and-1, and he's already secured his FOURTH 20-point game of the season! #GoWood pic.twitter.com/Ricqln6kkY

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) November 30, 2017

 
"He's just an outstanding offensive player," Gee said. "What I like about Isaiah is he's just got such a greater commitment to the team. He's really bought in to improving his game and being coachable, and being a good teammate. I'm just so impressed with his development. I think he's hitting his stride now and showing the conference he's one of the better guards in our league, taking some pride in doing some different things before scoring. His mentality, his makeup…he's just becoming a better basketball player."
 
But while Walton stole the spotlight on the offensive end of the floor, the entire Longwood team shared it on the defensive end. The Lancers surrendered a season-low 59 points and held Bluefield State to .299 (20-of-67) shooting from the field and .152 (5-of-33) from three-point range, also season bests for Longwood's defense.
 
Led by a career-high three steals from sophomore guard Dominic Ezeani and three more from redshirt senior Charles Glover, Longwood forced the Big Blues into 23 turnovers that they converted into 26 points.
 
Junior forward Spencer Franklin, who made his Lancer just one game earlier against N.C. Wesleyan, stuffed the stat sheet on the defensive end as well, adding two steals, a block and six defensive boards in 20 minutes of action.
 
"I was really impressed with our ability to defend them, really contest shots hard," Gee said. "I didn't think we scored the ball as well today, but our defensive effort was great. Our guys really were locked in and focused and ready to defend.

"We've been harping that. I got fired up yesterday in practice because I didn't think we were playing defense to our abilities. We're just trying to send a message that we have to have a high level of commitment defensively, and I thought they really came with that."
 

Isaiah Walton got it done in the first half, including these back-to-back buckets. Crafty play from the veteran, who poured in 16 points in the first half, including 8 in a row. #GoWood pic.twitter.com/aclye7qQBn

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) November 30, 2017

 
Bluefield State endured a scoreless stretch of more than seven minutes in the first half, during which they committed seven turnovers and managed to get off just two shot attempts – both missed three-pointers.
 
Led by point guard Korey Williams, who scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, Bluefield State bounced back to score 38 points after halftime but could not combat a Longwood offense that responded with a 50-point second half of their own.
 
Key to Longwood's defensive performance was the debut of a new defensive pressure scheme, which the Lancers installed in the practices leading up to Wednesday's game.
 
"We want to use these three games to become a better basketball team," Gee said. "For us to be a better basketball team, we have to play multiple presses. I thought for this being the first game using our 2-2-1 press – we introduced it a couple days ago – I thought for the most part it was a good thing. We forced some turnovers and got ourselves into some good situations because of it."
 
Longwood will get another opportunity to deploy that scheme this Saturday when Fayetteville State comes to town for a 3 p.m. matchup in Willett Hall. That game will mark the end of a three-game homestand for the Lancers, who follow with a grueling December stretch that sends them to VMI, Illinois, Arizona State, Grand Canyon and Charleston Southern with a lone home game during that span against Cornell on Dec. 16.
 
#GoWood