PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Just three games into his Longwood tenure, first-year head coach Griff Aldrich has already made history.
 
Extending what has emerged as a historic start for the program, Aldrich and the new-look Lancers outlasted UMES 66-63 Tuesday night to improve to 3-0 for the first time in the school's 15-year Division I era and surge to the top of the Big South standings as the conference's first 3-0 team.
 
Four nights after shocking Atlantic 10 member and Commonwealth rival Richmond 63-58 Friday on the road, Longwood pulled out another nail-biter of a win at UMES (0-3), riding a third straight 20-point game from Isaiah Walton to hold off the Eagles at Hytche Athletic Center.
 
But like Friday's win over Richmond, Tuesday's victory was not without a late-game gut-check, as UMES trimmed Longwood's 12-point lead to 65-63 with a 14-4 run in the final 1:10 of the game. However, it was Longwood junior transfer Shabooty Phillips – a member of Aldrich's first seven-player signing class – who squashed that comeback bid, knocking down 5-of-6 shots from the free throw line in the closing 16 seconds to ice Longwood's history-making victory.
 
"If I talk to him, he's probably not going to say, 'Coach, I was really good.' He's going to say, 'Man, I can't believe I missed that one free throw,'" Aldrich said of Phillips, whom he coached at the AAU level years ago before entering the college coaching ranks at UMBC in 2016.
 
Phillips' free throws marked his second straight clutch-time performance, as the Houston, Texas, native also hit a go-ahead three-pointer against Richmond Friday that put Longwood ahead for good with 1:10 to play. He finished with eight points, four assists and six rebounds Tuesday and made his only field goal attempt count when he buried a three-pointer during a back-and-forth second half.
 
That second half saw the lead change hands six times, as UMES closed the first half on a 5-1 run to cut Longwood's halftime lead to 27-25 and carried that momentum out of the break by staking a 30-27 lead – their first of the game – on a three-point play by A.J. Cheeseman. The Eagles led by as many as five points and as late at 10:08 remaining before before the Lancers pulled ahead for good on a three-point play by sophomore Jordan Cintron.
 
Cintron finished with a career-high 14 points and joined Walton and junior transfer point guard Sean Flood – also a member of Aldrich's first signing class – as one of Longwood's three double-figure scorers. In a breakout game for the Dublin, Ireland, native and member of the Irish National Team, Flood sank four three-pointers and added three assists in 20 minutes off the bench.
 
But despite an offensive effort that saw the Lancers shoot a season-best .462 (12-of-26) from three-point range and outrebound their third straight opponent, UMES hung around, thanks in large part to 17 points from Cheeseman and 16 Longwood turnovers.
 
"We have to deal with our turnovers," Aldrich said. "We had 16 tonight – 10 in the first half and six in the second.
 
"The problem with that is it's just killing our possession count. We're scoring in the 60s right now, but that's in large part because we're giving up 16 opportunities to shoot the ball. That's a real problem for us right now, and we've got to do a better job handling the ball. I will say I'm surprised a little bit because we didn't have that problem in our two scrimmages, but it's definitely reared its head in these three games."
 
UMES converted those 16 turnovers into 14 points as part of an offensive effort that was led by 10 assists from point guard Bryan Urrutia. He opened shooting chances for four double-digit scorers, including Cheeseman, Ahmad Frost (13 points), Ryan Andino (12) and Tyler Jones (12). However, outside of Cheeseman's 8-of-13 performance from the field, UMES shot just .288 (13-of-45) and gave up 12 Longwood three-pointers, including seven in the second half.
 
Now with three wins in three games for the first time since beginning their Division I transition in 2004-05, the Lancers will have the opportunity to extend the program's Division I-record start to 4-0 this Friday, Nov. 16, when they return to their home court in Willett Hall to take on Delaware State for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Tickets are available at www.LongwoodTickets.com.
 
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