FARMVILLE, Va. – Xavier Cooks erupted for the Big South's first 20-20 game since the 2014-15 season, racking up 21 points and 20 rebounds to lead preseason favorite Winthrop past Longwood, 83-63, Wednesday evening in Willett Hall.
 
The All-Big South forward dominated the glass on both ends of the floor, hauling in six boards on the offensive end and 14 more on the defensive en route to a career high in rebounds and his seventh 20-point game of the season.
 
The 6-8, 185-pound Cooks had a double-double by halftime, capping his 13-point, 12-rebound first-half performance with a put-back dunk at the buzzer to extend the Winthrop (20-6, 12-3 Big South) lead to double digits at 39-28. His 20 boards came as part of the first 20-rebound game in the Big South since Longwood forward Khris Lane hauled in 20 in his Lancer debut against Randolph on Nov. 13, 2015.
 
"He's crafty," Gee said of Cooks, who also had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double in the first meeting against Longwood this season. "A couple times we didn't box out, and a couple times it was just a great player making great plays."
 
Cooks played 31 minutes for a fast-paced Winthrop attack that shot .492 (30-of-61) from the floor and .478 (11-23) from three-point range against the injury-depleted Lancers, who had just eight players available. Big South Preseason Player of the Year Keon Johnson added 20 points of his own, while Tevin Prescott scored 10 points off the bench to help the Eagles (20-6, 12-3 Big South) retain their third place standing on the Big South leaderboard.
 
"They have a team capable of going to the NCAA Tournament," Gee said. "They've won 20 games, and they're one of the few programs in the country to get there at this point. Our guys competed against a very good basketball team, and we need to carry that over to Saturday. Our effort was spectacular. Our biggest problem was we couldn't score."
 
The Eagles, who lead the conference in points per game, field goal percentage defense and blocks, duplicated that dominance on the defensive end, holding the Lancers (6-20, 3-12 Big South) to a .361 (22-of-61) clip that was their second lowest of the season.
 
Longwood's backcourt tandem of Darrion Allen and Isaiah Walton carried the offense with a pair of double-figure scoring games. Allen poured in a team-high 18, while Walton added 16 and played his entire 33 minutes without turning the ball over, his best turnover-free stretch this season since going 36 minutes without a giveaway against Averett on Dec. 14.
 
"We have to build off what Isaiah Walton did," Gee said. "He got 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and zero turnovers. He came into this game with a different mindset. Sitting him down at the end of last game really helped him refocus. He demonstrated that he's a coachable player, and he's a good player, and he has a chance to be a very, very good player.
 
"I was extremely proud of him tonight based off the transition from his last game to this game. That's why we love our guys. We love them enough to tell them the hard truth, and he loves himself and his teammates enough to receive that and improve."
 
Longwood freshman JaShaun Smith added 10 points off the bench, while Khris Lane added nine but snapped his streak of 14 consecutive double-figure scoring games in the process.
 
"We got better shots tonight than we've had in a while, we just didn't make them," Gee said. "We said at halftime this game could very easily have a different score. We missed a ton of layups, and when you play a really good team, you can't miss those shots."
 
The loss precedes a daunting two-game in-state road trip for the Lancers, who head to rival Radford this Saturday, Feb. 18, and then take on Big South frontrunner Liberty on the road the following Thursday, Feb. 23. Longwood's regular season finale comes in Willett Hall against Charleston Southern on Feb. 25, prior to which the Lancers will honor their two-man senior class of Allen and Isaac Belton on Senior Day.
 
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