CLINTON, S.C. – It's been nearly two decades since Longwood men's basketball was this hot. That it's happening as the Lancers head into the postseason is an added bonus.
 
Extending the winningest stretch of the program's Division I era, Longwood (14-17, 9-9 Big South) rode 16 points and several clutch three-pointers from senior JaShaun Smith to overcome Presbyterian 58-55 and end the 2020 Big South regular season with eight wins in the past 11 games.
 
The win moved Longwood into sole possession of fourth place in the Big South standings, secured the program's most Big South wins since joining the league in 2012-13, and continued a historic 11-game stretch in which Longwood has won the most games against NCAA Divisional peers since the 2000-01 Lancers ended their season on an 8-3 run.
 
Thursday's win over the Blue Hose (9-21, 6-11 Big South) in the Templeton Center saw Longwood once again come out on top in a gut-check battle that came down to the final possessions. Presbyterian battled back from an early 11-point deficit to make it a one-possession game for almost the entire second half, but Smith delivered two three-pointers in the final five minutes that kept Longwood just outside of Presbyterian's reach. The first of those broke a 50-50 tie with 4:24 to play, and the second pushed the Lancers' lead to 56-52 with 30 seconds remaining.
 
"Extreme toughness to find a way, that's what winning teams do," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich, whose win Thursday was his 30th in two seasons as Longwood's head coach. "We got stops when we needed to, we got rebounds when we needed to, made shots when we needed to. That was huge."
 
The recently minted 1,000-point scorer Smith knocked down 4-of-8 three-pointers and added four blocks, including his last rejection on Presbyterian star Cory Higher with 2:51 to play. Hightower got his own rebound and scored on a putback to cut Longwood's lead back to 53-52, but that was one of only two blips during an end-of-game stand in which the Lancers forced stops on six of Presbyterian's final eight possessions.
 
Presbyterian became the third straight team Longwood has held under 60 points and did so by limiting the Blue Hose to just .350 (21-of-60) shooting from the floor and .263 (5-of-19) from three-point range. Freshman Leslie Nkereuwem contributed to that effort with a career-high three steals as well, while Longwood's frontcourt held Presbyterian's leading scorer Cory Hightower to just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.
 
"To be honest, I was a little concerned coming into the game," Aldrich said. "The environment, guys are tired, and things of that nature. This is a really just a great win. As a coach and as a perfectionist, do I want things to be better execution-wise? Absolutely. I don't think we played the way we can play. But to find a way in spite of that and when the other team has 15 offensive rebounds, that's a big deal."
 
Presbyterian guard Chris Martin broke through the defensive stronghold briefly with 21 seconds to play, responding to Smith's three-pointer with a three-point play of his own that cut the Lancer lead to 56-55. However, Longwood senior guard Shabooty Phillips extended the lead back to three points by making a pair of free throws after the Blue Hose were forced to foul.
 
Longwood forced Presbyterian to run out the final 17 seconds of the game on the last possession, and Martin's desperation three-pointer missed the rim at the buzzer.
 
"People are recognizing how hard our guys are working," Aldrich said. "It's a real credit to them, and it's really significant that they're buying into that. There's no doubt they know what happened with rebounding tonight, and we'll go back and need to clean that up before the tournament starts."
 
With all 18 Big South games in the books, the Lancers will now await their Big South Championship seeding and assignment, which will become official after the rest of the league wraps up conference play Thursday and Saturday. A top-five seed would guarantee Longwood a bye into the quarterfinals on March 5, while a finish at No. 6 or 7 – the lowest spots the Lancers can settle – will earn them first-round hosting privileges on March 3.
 
With a .500 finish in Big South play for the first time in program history, the Lancers will await their Big South Championship seeding and bracket placement after conference play wraps up this Saturday, Feb. 29. With all 18 Big South games in the books, Longwood will be the lone team not playing on the final day before the postseason.
 
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