FARMVILLE, Va. – While leading Longwood to a breakthrough 2018-19, Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich and his staff were also busy restocking the Lancer lineup for the follow-up in 2019-20.
 
In Tuesday night's season opener, Aldrich put the fruits of his first full recruiting cycle on full display.
 
In a team-wide effort that saw six newcomers make their Longwood debuts and six returners carry forward momentum from last year's run to the College Basketball Invitational, the Lancers (1-0) took care of Marymount 73-51 in Willett Hall.
 
Freshman Leslie Nkereuwem ruled the boards with 11 rebounds, newcomer Christian Wilson led the way with 12 points, and Jordan Cintron, DeShaun Wade and Jaylon WIlson joined him in scoring in double figures with 10 points apiece.
 
Redshirt sophomore Juan Munoz dished a career-high seven assists, and as a team the Lancers shot .617 (29-of-47) for their most efficient home-court shooting performance since a .672 (43-of-64) effort against N.C. Wesleyan on Nov. 26, 2017.
 
Even Longwood's bench – seven strong on Tuesday night – contributed 38 points with the team's leaders in points, assists and rebounds all coming from outside the starting lineup.
 
"We really are right now blessed with a lot of depth," Aldrich said. "You can kind of see it on the court – you take one guy off, and it's not like there's a huge drop-off in talent or skill. That's a huge blessing that we have right now, particularly on the perimeter. I think that's going to probably be one of the calling cards for this team, and frankly it has been in our early scrimmages. It's a very balanced team, and I think that speaks to the unselfishness of the guys."
 
It was a collective effort from a new-look Lancer squad whose depth was on full display in their second-year debut under Aldrich.
 
Longwood's head coach and finalist for the 2019 Joe B. Hall Award deployed 12 players to introduce the bulk of his eight-man signing class to the Longwood crowd while also reacquainting the more than 1,200 in attendance to a core of returners who in their last time on Jerome Kersey Court dispatched Southern Miss 90-68 in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
 
Nine Lancers hit multiple field goals, including Cintron's 5-of-6 performance that included a pair of above-the-rim putbacks. The Wilsons – Christian and Jaylon – combined to go 8-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-8 from three-point range with Christian hitting two of those treys and adding five rebounds in his 20-minute debut.
 
On the defensive end, Longwood's size in the paint forced Marymount into a .293 (17-of-58) field goal percentage with JaShaun Smith logging a pair of blocks and steals, and Wilson stuffing the defensive stat sheet as well with one blocks and two steals.
 
However, the win was not without blemishes as the Lancers' sharpshooting and disruptive defense masked their 21 turnovers. Marymount, which got an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double from Preseason All-Atlantic Eastern guard Steve Etienne, was only able to manage 14 points of those giveaways.
 
"Our defensive execution, I was hoping it was just nerves in the first game at the outset," Aldrich said. "But we turned the ball over consistently. We started out in the first 10 minutes, and we had almost 10 turnovers. We got it under control and we went on a run, but even when we weren't turning it over we weren't running our offense. We were taking extremely quick shots. It's a very unselfish team, and I don't think it was about selfishness. We just weren't disciplined.
 
"A lot of the difficulties we had were self-inflicted. Every possession matters. We didn't shoot free throws well, and I will say our lack of discipline on the offensive end spilled into the entirety of the game. I think it caused us to be undisciplined on the defensive end."
 
Despite the mass of turnovers and periodic defensive breakdowns, Longwood executed on the offense end to the tune of a .815 (22-of-27) clip on shots inside the arc and 38 points in the paint. Five of those baskets came on dunks with the freshman tandem of the high-energy Nkereuweum and 6-10, 225-pound Abraham Deng throwing down two each.
 
The victory gives the Lancers their second straight season-opening home win under Aldrich and precedes their first road game of the season. That upcoming trip will send them to Fairfax, Va., where they will face Commonwealth rival George Mason this Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.
 
"We're not going to change a bunch of stuff, but right now there's not a whole lot of accountability when we're on the floor," Aldrich said. "I do think we will settle down. I think we'll start to make better decisions. We'll get more comfortable with our execution, and we have to.
 
"I told the guys after the game, and I really do mean this – yes I want to win every game, but right now the goal is just to get better each and every day. We have to do that if we want to compete at a high level in the Big South.
 
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