The Opening Tip
•   Longwood tipped off the 2020-21 campaign Friday at Wake Forest in the first of six scheduled non-conference matchups. The Nov. 27 tipoff is the latest the Lancers have ever opened a season.
•   Tuesday's matchup at VMI was a late addition to the schedule after the Lancers' first two scheduled games of the season were canceled.
•   The third edition of Longwood basketball under head coach
Griff Aldrich features a roster full of new faces. In Friday's season opener at Wake Forest, six players made their debuts in a Longwood uniform, which equated to more than half of Longwood's 10-man rotation.Â
•   Friday's starting lineup included four players who had never started a game at Longwood. Two of those were true freshmen in forward
Jesper Granlund and guard
Justin Hill, who both played at least 30 minutes.
Last Time Out
•   Behind 14 points from graduate transfer Ian DuBose, Wake Forest overcame several standout debuts from a host of newcomers and pulled away late to defeat upset-minded Longwood 71-60 Friday at LJVM Coliseum.Â
•   Longwood battled to a 34-34 halftime draw and led as late as eight minutes into the second half before DuBose sparked the Demon Deacons' game-winning rally. He scored nine of his 14 points in the final 13:11, hit a go-ahead layup with 11:57 to play that gave the Deacs their final lead, and jumpstarted a game-winning 10-0 run.Â
•   The Lancer point guard tandem of
Juan Munoz and
Justin Hill combined for 24 points. Munoz scored a team-high 13 of those, while Hill broke out in his debut with 11 points, four assists and three steals.
Christian Wilson also scored nine points and
Leslie Nkereuwem finished with eight.
•   Including Hill, six newcomers made their debut for head coach
Griff Aldrich's young Lancer team, and five of those – Hill,
Jermaine Drewey,
Jesper Granlund,
Bennett Mohn and
Zac Watson – scored their first collegiate points in a Longwood uniform. Both Granlund and Hill started, while Drewey played 18 minutes and
Zac Watson and
Nate Lliteras both played double-digit minutes.
By The Numbers
•   Prior to Longwood's season opener at Wake Forest this past Friday, 10 of the Lancers' 17 players had never suited up in a Longwood uniform. Six players made their debut that night, including true freshmen
Jesper Granlund and
Justin Hill, who both started.
•   In addition to a 2020-21 signing class of seven newcomers, the Lancers also have three players who redshirted and did not see action as true freshmen in 2019-20. Redshirt freshmen
Nate Lliteras and
Bennett Mohn both made their collegiate debuts in this past Friday's season opener against Wake Forest.
•   Against Wake Forest, Longwood won the rebounding advantage 30-21. Fourteen of those boards were corralled by guards, including a team-high seven from 6-0 point guard
Juan Munoz.
•   Longwood point guards
Justin Hill and
Juan Munoz combined to either score or assist on 34 points Friday against Wake Forest, which equates to 56.7 percent of Longwood's overall scoring. They both scored in double figures and shot a combined 9-of-19 (.474) from the floor.
•   Munoz has hit a three-pointer in 19 consecutive games dating back to 2019-20.
•   Hill's four assists against Wake Forest were the most in a debut by a first-year Lancer since Kanayo Obi-Rapu had four against Averett on Nov. 14, 2014.
•   During Longwood's first two seasons under head coach
Griff Aldrich, the Lancers' 30 combined wins were the program's most in a two-year stretch since jumping to the Division I level in 2004. The 2008-09 (17-14) and 2009-10 (12-19) Lancers combined for 29 wins as a Division I Independent.
•   Longwood is 9-8 under Aldrich in games that were either decided by one possession (three points or fewer) or went to overtime. The Lancers went 4-4 in those games in 2019-20 and 5-4 in 2018-19.
Quotable
"We want to be, at the end of the game, the team that people say, 'Hey, those guys competed.' One of the trademarks we want for Longwood basketball is that win or lose, at the end of the day for the other team to go, 'Oof, those dudes battled.'"
— Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich after the season-opening 71-60 loss at Wake Forest
Series History
•   Longwood and VMI meet for the 13th time in a series that began in 1982 when the Lancers were in their second year as a Division II institution. The Keydets lead that series 9-3.
•   The matchup will be the second between the teams since Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich took over the program in 2018-19. Longwood won that meeting 65-45 in Farmville.
•   The lone player on Longwood's roster who saw action in the last meeting with VMI is redshirt junior guard
Juan Munoz, who recorded one steal in 11 minutes off the bench. Redshirt sophomore
Abraham Deng was also on the roster but did not play.
•   Longwood last played in Lexington on Dec. 9, 2017. VMI won that matchup 81-70.
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