HAMPTON, Va. – On a night in which Longwood broke the school's single-season three-point record, Hampton spoiled the Lancers' celebration by riding 24 points from Jermaine Morrow and a dominant effort in the paint to an 86-66 win Thursday evening at the Hampton Convocation Center.
 
Marrow knocked down 8-of-20 field goals and led a second-half charge that saw the Pirates (11-15, 6-7 Big South) turn a two-point halftime lead to double digits with under 10 minutes remaining. Kalin Fisher joined Marrow in double figures with 19 points, and Trevond Barnes added 13 points and a pair of blocks.
 
Along with Marrow's scoring, Hampton dominated on the boards, outrebounding Longwood 43-27 for the Lancers' largest rebounding deficit all season. Fourteen of Hampton's boards came on the offensive glass, including 10 during a second half in which the Pirates outscored Longwood 42-24.
 
"There's no sugarcoating it; this is very disappointing performance," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. "You're 44-42 at halftime. In the first half, they were clearly the aggressor, and playing defense the way, frankly, we want to play defense. In the second half, we just got man-handled. They were tougher than we were, they were more aggressive than we were. I thought we defended the first shot well, and as soon as the ball went up on the rim, they were getting it."
 
That effort was enough to overcome a career-high 27 points from Jaylon Wilson and another hot-shooting effort from three-point range by the Lancers (15-14, 5-9 Big South), who knocked down 11-of-22 treys en route to breaking the school's single-season record for made three-pointers. Jordan Cintron hit the record-breaker in the first half, pushing head coach Griff Aldrich's first-year Lancers past the previous mark of 275 set by the 2014-15 team.
 
However, Hampton countered that three-point barrage by outscoring Longwood 36-14 in the paint. The Pirates shot .525 (21-of-40) on two-point field goal attempts, solving a Longwood defense that entered the game holding opponents to a Big South-low .478 clip inside the perimeter.
 
"Rebounding is purely desire and effort, and frankly Hampton wanted it," Aldrich said. "They got 10 offensive rebounds in the second half and flat-out owned that portion of the game. I can live with a lot of things, but one thing that really just stings for me is a lack of desire, a lack of effort and a lack of toughness.
 
"I love our guys, and tonight certainly does not define what this team is, but tonight they just didn't have it in the second half. That's a real disappointment because  this was a big game. Every game's a big game, and these guys have fought so hard all season not to answer the bell tonight."
 
Wilson was one of the few to answer that bell on the offensive end, putting together a near-perfect shooting performance by hitting all four three-pointers he attempted and finishing 9-of-13 from the floor. He scored 24 of his points in the first half before Hampton adjusted and held him to just three points the rest of the way. That effort continued a late-season breakout for the junior transfer guard, who has scored in double figures in five of his past six games.
 
"That's what we saw when we recruited him," Aldrich said of Wilson. "He was an aggressive scorer. He's very quick with the ball. He can shoot it. He's been a little bit streaky, but he really had a great summer and a great preseason until he fractured his hand in October. I think you're seeing a little bit – maybe not 27 points – but you're seeing a little bit more of his offensive aggressiveness that we were hoping we would see."
 
Juan Munoz joined Wilson in double figures with 13 points off the bench for Longwood, and Shabooty Phillips chipped in 10 with five assists.
 
The loss snaps a two-game win streak for the Lancers, who enter their final two-game stretch of the regular season with the second most overall wins in the program's 15-year Division I era and tied for the most Big South wins since joining the conference seven years ago.
 
Longwood's last two chances to add to those totals before the start of the Big South Championship tournament will be against Campbell at home this Saturday, Feb. 23, and on the road at Gardner-Webb on March 2. The Campbell game will tip off at 3 p.m., prior to which the program will honor seniors Spencer Franklin and Damarion Geter as part of senior day.
 
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