FARMVILLE, Va. – Even in the postseason, Longwood keeps getting better.
 
After a 2018-19 regular season that was among the program's best in nearly two decades, the Lancers (16-17) raised the bar even higher in their first-ever Division I postseason game and dominated Southern Miss 90-68 in the first round of the Roman College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Wednesday evening in Willett Hall.
 
Playing in front of an electric home crowd, Longwood controlled the game from the opening tip and unleashed a three-point onslaught to mount a 22-point blowout of a Southern Miss (20-13) team that finished tied for second in Conference USA. The Lancers never trailed, hit a season-high 18 three-pointers – their most since hitting a school-record 20 against VMI on Dec. 12, 2011 – and pulled away with a 49-point second half.
 
Longwood will now move on to the CBI Quarterfinals where they will face Big East foe DePaul (16-15) in Chicago Ill., after the Blue Demons defeated Central Michigan 100-86 Wednesday night in Chicago. 
 
"Jaylon Wilson got into a rhythm, Shabooty got into a rhythm, but at the end of the day what I would say more than anything is our guys really wanted it," said Longwood first-year head coach Griff Aldrich, who has now led Longwood to the second most wins of the program's 15-year Division I era.
 
"They really wanted to compete, they wanted to win, and that really showed. Not that Southern Miss didn't – they're an extremely well-coached team, and they're a senior-laden team. But I think our guys right from the get-go had a commitment to really competing and going right at them."
 
Wilson scored a game-high 23 points and his junior classmate Phillips added 19 as the Lancers became the first team all season to score at least 80 points against Southern Miss. Longwood shot .529 (18-of-34) from beyond the arc with Wilson hitting five of those, JaShaun Smith four, and Phillips and Sean Flood three apiece.
 
"That's our offense," said Phillips, who racked up seven assists and saw six of those lead to three-pointers by his teammates. "Coach always says move the ball, and we shoot every day. We shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Jaylon, I always tell him to stay ready. He was aggressive, and he made shots tonight."
 
The victory was Longwood's biggest win thus far under Aldrich, a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National coach of the Year award who has led the Lancers to an 11-5 non-conference record in his first season. As the No. 125 team in the KenPom.com rankings, Southern Miss is the highest-ranked team Longwood has defeated this season and the second-highest of the program's 15-year Division I era, trailing only the 70-69 road win Longwood pulled out over No. 113 Columbia on Nov. 28, 2015.
 
"I'm really excited for these guys. This is a signature win," Aldrich said. "Southern Miss is very good. They're a team that won 20 games, and to play the way we did and really to control the game throughout, that's a big compliment and a big testament to our guys."
 
The Lancers were equally as dominant on the defensive end of the floor Wednesday night, holding Southern Miss to .415 (22-of-53) shooting from the field and winning the rebounding battle 34-27. None of Southern Miss' starters scored in double figures, as freshman reserve Gabe Watson led the team with 17 points off the bench.
 
Longwood was opportunistic as well, converting seven Southern Miss turnovers into 18 points and scoring off every single giveaway, including four three-pointers.
 
"This was reminiscent of the play we had earlier in the year," Aldrich said of Longwood's defensive effort. "I have to go back and figure out if we were exhausted during conference, but the performance we had tonight was spectacular defensively. They were right there where they needed to be."
 
Now the Lancers will await their official quarterfinal destination for this Monday, March 25, against DePaul. That announcement will come Thursday on LongwoodLancers.com.
 
#GoWood