FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood entered Thursday's matchup down to just one point guard.
 
It turns out that's all they needed.
 
Playing in the absence of fellow point guards Seán Flood and Juan Munoz, both of whom missed the game with ailments, Shabooty Phillips put in a marathon 38-minute effort and stuffed the box score with 23 points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals to lead Longwood (8-4) to an 81-57 win over Division III Averett (1-8).
 
Longwood's leader in minutes played this season, Phillips played all but 90 the final seconds of the game on the way to his third 20-point performance of the year. He shot 8-of-13 from the floor, 5-of-9 from three-point range, and turned his six assists into 15 additional points, including three of Longwood's 13 three-pointers.
 
The win improved Longwood to 5-0 in Willett Hall for the first time since 1994-95 and continued a breakout season under first-year head coach Griff Aldrich. The Lancers are now guaranteed their first winning non-conference record since joining the Big South in 2012-13 and only the second of the program's 15-year Division I era, joining the 2008-09 Longwood team that finished 17-14 as a Division I independent.

Damarion Geter complemented Phillips in the post Thursday, adding 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal as part of his second double-double of the season. JaShaun Smith added 14 points, a block and a steal, and junior guard Jaylon Wilson – in his Longwood debut – scored 13 points during 28 turnover-free minutes.

"This is a tough game because it's an opportunity for us to work on things," Aldrich said. "We worked on some zone defense and things like that in the second half, but we're not going to face guys of this size and athleticism on the D-I schedule. This is our last D-I game of the year. It's an opportunity for guys to get reps, work on our execution, work on building up our culture and how we play."
 
The most recent win of Longwood's historic start to 2018-19 needed a bounce-back effort from the Lancers after the Cougars shot better than 50.0 percent from the floor and tied the game 34-34 entering halftime. Averett guard Harrison Cochran scored 14 points in that opening half, but Longwood held him scoreless the rest of the way and ran away with the second half, 47-23.
 
Phillips sparked that second-half surge, scoring 17 points, while Longwood's defense clamped down and held Averett to a .321 (9-of-28) clip the rest of the way.  
 
"We weren't as aggressive as we needed to be when we started out, and that's just so critical in any game," Aldrich said. "We started out the first half pretty softly. There were two loose balls, and both went to Averett. We started out missing layups. They just weren't as aggressive as they need to be. I think they understood that at halftime and did a much better job."
 
Longwood trailed Averett by as many as nine points in the first half, falling behind after Averett opened the game 8-of-10 from the field. The Lancers fought back to tie the game at 25-25 on a Kamil Chapman three-pointer that was Longwood's fifth straight to that point, but limped into halftime after Averett's Raymond Bullock III tied the score at 34-34 with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.
 
However, a halftime charge sent Phillips and Smith to work out of the break, as those two combined for 15 points, five assists and four rebounds during an opening 21-6 run. Phillips had 11 points during that stretch, hitting two three-pointers and converting  a three-point play while capping the rally with a pass that set up freshman teammate Gus Okafor for a three-pointer that extended Longwood's lead to 13.
 
Longwood led by no fewer than nine points the rest of the way and held Averett scoreless for the final six minutes of the game.
 
"We asked them who the aggressor was in the first half, and it was pretty clear it was Averett," Aldrich said. "There weren't a whole lot of X's and O's we needed to talk to them about."
 
"I think the second half, we ratcheted up our effort quite a bit. You saw the ball get into the post against us in the first half, and then really in the second half I think it got in a couple times. Our level of effort went up another notch."
 
The Lancers now have just three non-conference games remaining before the start of Big South play, beginning with a road trip to Cornell for a Dec. 17 tipoff at 7 p.m. Longwood will then host Stetson on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up non-conference play at The Citadel on Dec. 29.
 
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