FARMVILLE, Va. – Liberty forward Scottie James picked up his seventh double-double of the season with a career-high 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Flames to a 67-55 win over Longwood and a split of the regular-season series Saturday afternoon in Willett Hall.
 
James, who scored just eight points in Longwood's 58-51 win over the Flames (15-10, 6-6 Big South) on Jan. 12, reasserted himself on both ends of the floor Saturday by finishing 8-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He scored 19 of his points in the second half en route to his second straight 20-point game and third of the season.
 
Behind James' production in the post, Liberty took advantage of a short-handed Longwood frontcourt to flip the script against the Lancers (6-19, 3-9 Big South) from the first meeting of the season. After losing the rebounding battle 34-25 and managing just 24 points in the paint in Longwood's prior victory in Lynchburg, Liberty outscored the Lancers 34-14 in the paint Saturday and shoot .581 (18-of-31) from inside the three-point arc.
 
"We couldn't physically withstand what they brought to the table inside at the basket," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee. "Even their backup big man, Myo Baxter-Bell, he was phenomenal. He brought physicality and made life miserable as well."
 
That inside production came against a Lancer squad that was without 6-8, 235-pound forward Jahleem Montague due to injury and got just 12 minutes out of starting forward Spencer Franklin due to foul trouble. Franklin, a 6-8, 210-pound junior making his fifth consecutive start, picked up his fourth foul with more than 18 minutes left in the game and ended up playing his fewest minutes as a starter this season.
 
James scored 19 of his 28 points in the 28 minutes Franklin was off the court.
 
"I thought our kids played hard, we had the right defensive gameplan, and we played physical," Gee said. "James was just too much for us inside. He just physically dominated the game. Twenty-eight and 11, I thought he was the difference in the game."
 

Hustle points all around! Longwood bookends this transition putback with a 7-0 run to cut into Liberty's lead. Flames up 19-17 w/ 5 to play in the first half. #GoWood pic.twitter.com/a1K7Xvdgsi

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) February 3, 2018

Longwood redshirt junior guard Isaiah Walton matched James with a 20-point game of his own, but the Flames held the Lancers to .340 (16-of-47) shooting from the field overall to offset Longwood's leading scorer's seventh 20-point game of the season. That defensive effort came in response to Longwood's hot shooting in January when the Lancers – led by 22 points from Walton – shot .415 (17-of-14) from the floor and got back-to-back three-pointers from Walton and Charles Glover in the final minute to seal the win.
 
"We couldn't make shots," Gee said. "When we're making shots, our defense is better, everything's just better. We just couldn't make them today. I have to give Liberty credit. They held us to 34 percent from the field. We got some good ones, they just didn't go down for us."

Liberty broke the game open with a 17-0 run that started in the first half and continued after halftime. The Flames shot 7-of-9 from the floor and forced three turnovers during that stretch to turn a tied game into a 16-point lead.
 
The Lancers cut that deficit back to single digits with 11:52 remaining when a Chris Shields three-pointer capped a 10-3 run, but James responded with four consecutive points to reclaim the momentum for good.
 

How about the motor on Jordan Cintron? That's stifling D and a forced turnover from a freshman. #GoWood pic.twitter.com/8cjoaarkHY

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) February 3, 2018

 
Liberty point guard Lovell Cabbil also reached double digits with 10 points, while forward Caleb Homesley stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, nine rebounds, four assists, five steals and a pair of blocks.
 
Along with Walton's 20 points, Damarion Geter added 10 with three assists for his career-high eighth double-digit scoring game of the season.
 
Now with just seven games remaining before the Big South Conference Championship, the Lancers host UNC Asheville this Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. in Willett Hall. That will be the first of Longwood's final three home games, which pit the Lancers against Charleston Southern on Feb. 15 and Radford on Feb. 24.
 
#GoWood