BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - A 17-point effort off the bench from Jaheam Cornwall and a 17-4 run over the final 8:24 was just enough for Gardner-Webb to overcome a solid defensive effort from Longwood and escape with a 60-57 victory Saturday afternoon at Paul Porter Arena.

In a game that Longwood played well defensively, the Runnin' Bulldogs (11-12, 6-4 Big South) used a final spurt knocking down five of their final seven shots and held the Lancers to just one made field goal on their final 10 attempts to complete the comeback and split the season series.

Cornwall finished the afternoon a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor Saturday in just 16 minutes of action. His effort, alongside 20 points from David Efianayi and 11 from DJ Laster, was enough to outlast two Lancers who scored in double figures. Cornwall's final bucket extended Gardner-Webb's one point lead to a 60-57 margin wth 1:03 to play as the home Bulldogs held on down the stretch.

"[Jaheam] Cornwall had 17 points and that really just hurt us," said fifth-year head coach Jayson Gee. "Where our biggest weakness was our ability to guard Cornwall. A lot of credit to [Gardner-Webb]. The guys we identified as their 'big three,' we did a great job defending, it was just the other guys we didn't get stops against."

Longwood (6-17, 3-7 Big South) fell behind 7-2 early but used an 11-2 run of their own to grab a 13-9 lead before taking a 30-28 cushion into the locker room. The Lancers held the lead for the first 17-plus minutes of the second half and were ahead by as many as 10, but a Patrick Zeck layup with 2:03 to play gave the Runnin' Bulldogs the lead - one they would hold for the remainder of the contest.

Isaiah Walton, the Big South's third-leading scorer entering Saturday's contest, turned in a team-high 16 points in 30 minutes of action while fellow guard B.K. Ashe added 10 points as his game-tying attempt had a chance before rimming out at the last second.

"I'm very proud of the effort. I thought we had a great mentality and chance to win a Big South Conference road game," Gee said. "It's just disappointing we didn't get it done at the end. We played our worst defense the last three minutes of the game and I thought that was the difference in the game."

Damarion Geter extended his rebounding streak with 11 on the day, making it three-straight contests with 10-plus boards and four over his past five appearances. The redshirt-junior captain also added seven points and an assist in a team-high 39 minutes on the floor.

Charles Glover turned in a seven-point, six-rebound afternoon and Jahleem Montague added nine points and two assists off the bench.

Longwood stays on the road as the second half of Big South play gets into full swing with a trip to Clinton, S.C. where Presbyterian awaits for a Thursday night affair. The Lancers will be looking to split the season series with the Blue Hose after a home loss earlier in conference play. The matchup with Presbyterian precedes a highly-anticipated matchup with rival Liberty after the Lancers stunned the Flames 58-51 in Lynchburg earlier in January.

#GoWood