The Opening Tip
• The Lancers make their 2020-21 debut in Willett Hall Thursday against Regent, returning to a home court upon which they are 18-11 under third-year head coach
Griff Aldrich.
• Longwood has won three straight in Willett Hall and four of its past five dating back to the 2019-20 season. The Lancers' last home outing was a 57-54 win over Tubby Smith-coached Big South rival High Point on Feb. 22, 2020.
• Longwood's roster is laden with new faces, as 10 of the team's 17 players had not suited up in a Lancer uniform prior to the season opener. Six of those new Lancers have made their debuts in the first two games.
• Thursday's game is Longwood's second in less than 48 hours. The Lancers faced VMI on the road this past Tuesday in Lexington, Va., and had just one day of prep before facing Regent Thursday.
Last Time Out
• Behind a second straight 20-point game from senior guard Greg Parham, VMI wore down Longwood and pulled away in the final 10 minutes en route to an 84-71 win in Cameron Hall.
• The Keydets wore down a shorthanded Longwood squad that for the second straight game played without key guards
DeShaun Wade and
Heru Bligen, both sidelined with injuries.
• Longwood freshman
Justin Hill finished with 15 points and fellow freshman
Jesper Granlund 8, while
Juan Munoz led the team for a second straight game with 18.
Zac Watson also flirted with a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds in his second career game at Longwood.
• With the score tied 49-49 at the 12:48 mark, the Keydets broke the game open with a 14-6 run bookended by a Parham three-pointer. They led by at least two possessions the rest of the way.
By The Numbers
• Head coach
Griff Aldrich's 2019-20 signing class is already paying dividends with both freshmen —
Jesper Granlund and
Justin Hill — starting Longwood's first two games and averaging more than 30.0 minutes apiece, and both junior transfers —
Jermaine Drewey and
Zac Watson — playing significant roles off the bench and averaging double-digit minutes.
• Longwood is averaging 35.0 points in the paint through its first two games. Those points have come against Wake Forest and VMI and are a double-digit increase in the 22.6 points in the paint the Lancers averaged last season.
• Freshman point guard
Justin Hill, leads the team with 8.0 points in the paint per game.
• With back-to-back double-digit scoring games, Hill is the first Lancer freshman to open a season with consecutive double-digit outings since Michael Kessens in 2012-13.
• Prior to Longwood's season opener at Wake Forest, 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.
• Those first-year Lancers have accounted for 52.7 percent of the team's scoring through the first two games.
• Veteran point guard
Juan Munoz has hit a three-pointer in 20 consecutive games dating back to 2019-20. He opened the 2020-21 season with multiple treys in his first two games.
• Redshirt freshman forward
Bennett Mohn has hit 3 of his first 4 three-point attempts to begin his collegiate career.
• Since Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich took over the Lancer program in 2018-19, Longwood has made the second-most three-pointers in the Big South. With 637 made treys in that span, only Winthrop (700) has hit more.
Quotable
"The goal here for us is to learn these lessons and continue to grow as a basketball team. As we continue to do that, good things will happen."
— Longwood head coach
Griff Aldrich after Tuesday's loss at VMI
Series History
• Thursday's matchup between Longwood and Regent will be the first in the series.
• Regent will be the first team from the National Christian Colleges Athletics Association Longwood has faced since defeating Cairn 90-52 on Dec. 28, 2015.
• The highest scoring game in Longwood men's basketball history was against NCCAA Midwest Region member Lancaster Bible College, whom the Lancers defeated 140-57 on Jan. 8, 1979.
#GoWood
