FARMVILLE, Va. – Behind a near double-double from Preseason All-Big South forward Cory Hightower, red-hot Presbyterian continued its undefeated run through the Big South with a 74-67 win over Longwood Thursday evening in Willett Hall.
 
Hightower spearheaded Presbyterian's best shooting night of the season, scoring 16 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing six assists as the Blue Hose shot .558 (24-of-43) from the floor and .455 (10-of-22) from three-point range. Presbyterian hit 9-of-15 three-pointers in the first half en route to a 42-25 advantage and used that cushion to hold off a late Longwood (6-12, 1-4 Big South) charge that cut the deficit back to single digits in the closing minutes.  
 
The win makes the Blue Hose (7-10, 4-0 Big South) one of only three remaining unbeatens in the Big South alongside perennial powers Radford and Winthrop, all atop the conference standings at 4-0.
 
"Credit them, they made shots in the first half," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. "I thought we got a lot of good shots, I just think we didn't make a lot. We were probably guilty of taking too many threes without shot-faking. They're flying at you trying to recover, and our best possessions were when we shot-faked and then got back into the paint.
 
"I usually like to clap and cheer the guys on if they miss a shot and I thought the possession was good, and I felt like I did that tons in the first half. We just didn't make shots. I probably should have run a few plays to try and get it closer to the rim, so that's on me, but I thought in the first half offensively we were probably ok."
 
Longwood's off-shooting night came against a resurgent Presbyterian defense that entered the game holding three of its past four opponents under 65 points. The Lancers shot just .339 (19-of-56) from the floor after opening the game 1-of-11 and found themselves in a double-digit hole before halftime.
 
That early slump allowed Presbyterian to build a 19-2 lead before the Lancers finally got back on track with an 18-4 run that cut the Blue Hose lead to 23-20. However, Presbyterian got back on track before the end of the half and entered halftime on a 19-5 run.

The Blue Hose built that lead to as high as 27 before Longwood made a late-game charge in the form of a 16-5 run in the closing minutes. The Lancers scored the final eight points of the game and forced stops on four of Presbyterian's final five possessions, but the first-half cushion proved to be too much to overcome before the buzzer. 
 
"The story of the game from my perspective is the aggressiveness," Aldrich said. "I didn't think we had bad effort tonight. I disagree that we came out flat; I don't think we were aggressive, is what I would say. I thought the effort was fine, but we were not inflicting our will on the other team. I think it was a little too comfortable."
 
Lancer point guard Juan Munoz continued his breakout sophomore campaign with 12 points for his fourth straight double-figure scoring game, while freshman Heru Bligen – in his first career start – matched his career high for a second straight game with 11 points.
 
However, the 16 points from Hightower and matching double-digit efforts from Sean Jenkins (12 points), Michael Isler (12) and Chris Martin (11) were enough to outpace Longwood's backcourt duo.
 
The loss is only Longwood's third at home this season and eighth in Willett Hall in the two seasons Aldrich has been at the helm.
 
"We'll go watch film tonight and start to get prepared, but as I told the guys, we're not going to sag our shoulders," Aldrich said. "We're not going to put our head down. The body language is going to remain positive, and the goal is to get better every single day. Our job is to figure out where we need to improve and fix it and get better."
 
Longwood will have little time to dwell on the loss with a follow-up matchup at Campbell coming in less than 48 hours this Saturday at 2 p.m. That game will be the second of three the Lancers will play in a five-day span that began Thursday and ends back at home against UNC Asheville on Jan. 20.
 
"I was really proud of the guys for continuing to battle. A lot of lesser teams, a lot of lesser people would have just quit down 20. That's something to continue to build on, and it's something encouraging that they continue to fight. That's what excites me about this group."
 
#GoWood