FARMVILLE, Va. – It took three overtimes to do it, but The Citadel snapped Longwood's five-game home-court win streak.
 
In the longest game in Longwood men's basketball history, The Citadel (6-5) used 27 points and 10 rebounds from Kaelon Harris to grind out a 102-99 triple-overtime win Thursday evening in Willett Hall. The loss is Longwood's first on Jerome Kersey Court since Feb. 23, 2019, and drops the Lancers to 4-1 at home this season.
 
The 55-minute battle was back and forth throughout, with Longwood (5-7) overcoming an 11-point deficit in the second half and a six-point deficit in the first overtime, The Citadel rallying from five points down in the final 2:18 of the second overtime, and the teams trading the lead nine times.
 
"In the game of basketball, everybody goes on runs," Aldrich said. "You're not going to hold a team down. I'm going to sound like a broken record, but credit our guys. They came back in regulation, they came back in overtime when we were down six. They're battling. They're finding ways to compete, to stick around."
 
The game featured a showdown of the nation's No. 5 scoring team in The Citadel and the Big South's No. 2 defending team in Longwood, as well as a rematch of another shootout Longwood won 110-94 in last year's meeting. Thursday's game was played again at a frenetic pace throughout with the teams combining for nearly 200 possessions, 162 field goal attempts and 36 fast-break points.
 
Nine players scored in double figures, led by Harris' 27 points, Longwood's Jaylon Wilson and Shabooty Phillips' matching 24, and Citadel forward Kaiden Rice's 21.
 
The high-scoring affair produced enough end-of-overtime drama for an entire highlight package. In the first extra period, Phillips – a hero throughout the night for Longwood – took the ball end-to-end and tied the game with a contested driving layup with just six seconds remaining. In the second overtime, The Citadel reserve Alex Reed returned the favor with a spinning layup through the lane that tied the score at 94-94 and capped a 5-0 game-saving Bulldog run.
 
However, in the end, The Citadel hit 4-of-5 free throws in the final minute, including two by Harris that stretched the Bulldogs' lead to three points to 99-96 with 28 seconds to play. Longwood pulled it back to within one point when Jaylon Wilson dropped in a heavily contested layup at 16 seconds, but when Wilson followed up on Longwood's next possession with a three-point attempt at the buzzer, Reed tipped it away to secure the victory.
 
"We want to win, but at the end of the day I am proud of these guys," Aldrich said. "Talking about Shabooty and Jaylon, those guys for have made some strides and are really battling back. Lesser people may not be as resilient, so I'm proud of them for that."
 
The dueling 20-point efforts from Phillips and Wilson marked the second straight game the Lancer senior duo both topped 20 points. Phillips recorded his first double-double of the season with a career-high 16 rebounds and added five assists in his game-high 49:43 on the court, while Wilson scored all 24 of his points after halftime.
 
"I'm proud of Shabooty, and more than anything is his attitude," Aldrich said. "There's no hiding it – he hasn't had the non-conference season he wanted. I think that's been hard. It's been hard for him and hard for the team. Pretty much after the Pacific game, he's come back and said 'I just need to be the best leader, the best teammate I can be.' I think that's really freed him up quite a bit.
 
"Jaylon is a heck of a player, and it's almost like, just unleash yourself man. I didn't think had really had a good first half, and he came in in the second half and attacked."
 
The overtime game was the third of Aldrich's tenure.
 
"It's not just for the guys who ended up playing a to," Aldrich said. "For guys like Leslie Nkereuwem, Heru Bligens, even the redshirt guy – those guys are going to be key for our program going forward. If they can learn these lessons as freshmen, we're going to be in great shape."
 
The loss concludes Longwood's home non-conference schedule and sends the Lancers into an eight-day holiday break. They will return to action in the non-conference finale at George Washington in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 28 before embarking on their 18-game Big South schedule on January 2 at Winthrop.
 
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