FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood's 4-0 start has been a surprise to many, but don't count junior point guard Seán Flood among that group.
 
When asked if he, in his wildest dreams, had Longwood undefeated four games into the 2018-19 season, his response was simple.
 
"For sure."
 
Flood helped make that expectation a reality and continued a run that few saw coming, extending Longwood's season-opening unbeaten streak to four games with an 89-73 win over Delaware State (0-4) Friday in Willett Hall.
 
A junior transfer by way of Dublin, Ireland, who is one of seven newcomers in first-year head coach Griff Aldrich's first signing class, Flood contributed 10 points and three assists off the bench to join redshirt senior guard Isaiah Walton and junior forward JaShaun Smith in double-digit scoring. Walton poured in 21 points for his Big South-leading fourth straight 20-point game, while Smith finished with a career-high 19 points on a night that he punctuated with three dunks that sent the near-capacity crowd in Longwood's home gym into a frenzy.
 
Now Longwood is one of just 90 teams in the nation still undefeated, and one of just 51 unbeatens at the mid-major level. After a season-opening win over Division III Randolph, the Lancers have rattled off three straight Division I victories, including a 63-58 upset road win over Commonwealth rival Richmond on Nov. 9.
 
"We expect these wins," Flood said. "People might not expect us to go out and beat the likes of Richmond and teams like that, but for us, that's what we work for. We're not here to just sort of play games to lose. We're here to win. If somebody had said to me, 'Do you think you'll start the season 4-0?' I would have said, of course."
 
Flood's confidence permeated throughout the Longwood lineup Friday night, as the Lancers set season highs in points, made field goals, made three-pointers, assists and offensive rebounds against a Delaware State team coached by Aldrich's former benchmate at UMBC, Eric Skeeters.
 
The Lancers shot .475 (28-of-59) from the field and .429 (15-of-35) from three-point range, outrebounded the Hornets 39-31 and scored 16 points on the break, including two dunks by Smith, two by Walton, and a pair of transition three-pointers from Walton and Kamil Chapman.
 
"I think we really just played our game," said Aldrich, who is now 4-0 as a college head coach. "We wanted to come out and attack and play with pace, try to move the ball and really take open shots when we had them."
 
That approach led to a season-high 20 assists and a season-low 11 turnovers against Delaware State, thanks in large part to the sure-handed play of junior point guard Shabooty Phillips who dished seven assists without a turnover in his team-high 30 minutes of play. Five of Phillips' assists led to three-pointers, while his other two went to Smith for a pair of alley-oops.
 
Longwood is now 4-0 for the first time in the program's 15-year Division I era and off to the team's best start since the 2000-01 Lancers opened the year 7-0 under head coach Mike Leeder. This year's team is only the third Longwood squad in the program's 41-year history to open a season 4-0, joining the 2000-01 squad and the 1979-80 team, both of which won 20 games and reached the NCAA Tournament.
 
But as both Flood and Aldrich pointed out after the game, Longwood is far from a finished product. That truth showed itself midway through the first half when Delaware State opened a 21-6 run that cut a 19-point Longwood lead to four with 5:24 remaining in the half. Led by a combined nine points from Saleik Edwards and Fahim Jenneto during that run, the Hornets shot 8-of-11 during that 10-minute rally with five three-pointers.
 
"When we're locked in mentally, and we're playing hard and playing together, we're really, really good," Flood said, "but when we switch off mentally, that's when the problems start coming. That was our problem there; we started out really well, we were all locked in mentally, physically, and we were playing really hard. Then we lost focus for just a second, and they went on a run. We got back together at halftime, spoke about locking back in mentally for the second half, and obviously we played a better second half.
 
"I feel it's all on us – if we're mentally focused and playing well, good things are going to happen for us."
 
Sparked by a three-pointer from Walton 38 seconds into the second half, the Lancers bounced back after halftime and extended their lead back to double digits where it stayed for the final 15 minutes of the game. Longwood hit seven more threes after the break and got 13 points from Smith in the second half to close out the win.
 
With the first quartet of games now in the rearview, the Lancers set their sights on a holiday road trip that features four straight road games, beginning at Charlotte this Monday at 7 p.m. The Lancers follow with a trip to Seattle where they will take part in the Elgin Baylor Classic with matchups against Fairfield, Denver and host Seattle on Nov. 23-25.
 
"I'll say the success of this team and this season will be directly correlated to how much we're able to elevate the mental side of our game and really be precise with what we're doing on the court and really executing our gameplan," Aldrich said. "We have plenty of talent and skill; the bigger issue is probably more about making sure we execute each and every possession on the court."
 
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