FARMVILLE, Va. – Just two points shy of joining the 1,000-point club heading into Thursday night's game against Big South rival Charleston Southern, Longwood senior JaShaun Smith joked before Wednesday's practice about how he wanted it to happen.
 
"It's gotta be on a lob," he said. "I'll have to talk to coach and Juan [Munoz] about that."
 
It took the high-flying forward just 14 seconds after tipoff Thursday night to get the milestone bucket, and while it didn't come on a lob, he was still all smiles after the game.
 
And after their third win in the past four games, so were the Lancers.
 
Smith's early layup set the tone for a dominant effort that saw resurgent Longwood (9-15, 4-7 Big South) dispatch Charleston Southern 71-63 at home in Willett Hall to earn its third win in the past four games. He finished with a modest eight points but amassed a plus-13 plus-minus rating in his 27 minutes on the floor to help extend what has become Longwood's best stretch of basketball this season.
 
"I got hired in March [of 2018], and two days later I had breakfast with JaShaun Smith because he was going to transfer," said Longwood second-year head coach Griff Aldrich. "I just told him and the team [after Thursday's game] how proud of him I am of what he's overcome in his life, and for him to continue to fight and continue to get better.
 
"Many people don't know that JaShaun just finished the best academic semester of his career here. To be a Division I player, to come from his situation and to be on track to get his degree; and then to be on top of that, a 1,000-point scorer, it just doesn't get any better."
 
Smith's opening basket and the ensuing recognition of his 1,000-point achievement over the public address system stole the spotlight early, but the 6-5, 200-pound senior but he shared it with his teammates the rest of the way.
 
Fellow senior Shabooty Phillips took over after halftime and finished with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and just one turnover in his most efficient night of the season. Sophomore guard DeShaun Wade added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and swiped three steals, while point guard Juan Munoz continued his climb up the Big South leaderboards with five assists and three steals. Junior Jordan Cintron also hauled in a career-high seven offensive rebounds and finished with 10 total for his fourth double-digit rebounding game of the year.
 
"I had the jitters all night, and I couldn't stay calm; I was too excited," said Smith, who is the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point benchmark. "It's a big accomplishment, for me, my family, the program, and it feels good because it was part of a great team win.
 
"We came in ready to play and focused—from the jump we felt we had the game. Obviously the whole team is playing with a different level of confidence. We are starting to play together as a team, and we are all starting to gel."
 
Those widespread contributions were enough to outpace a 25-point effort from Charleston Southern junior and No. 3 Big South scorer Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who carried the Buccaneers on the way to his 12th 20-point outburst of the season. However, Longwood's No. 3 Big South defense held the rest of the Buccaneer lineup to just 38 points on .424 (14-of-33) shooting and won the rebounding battle 37-27.
 
That performance also secured Longwood's first regular-season sweep of the season and in the series against Charleston Southern following the Lancers' 74-56 road win over the Buccaneers on Jan. 8.
 
"Our guys came out determined," Aldrich said. "Since the beginning of January, we've had a level of energy and competitiveness that frankly I think we were trying to find. Some of that had to do with having eight new guys trying to learn what it means to compete, and to compete every single possession. Then honestly I think we had some guys who were struggling with how they were playing – not in a selfish way, but they were distracted.
 
"For the past five or six games, the effort's been there; the execution hasn't been great, but that's something where if you're not coaching effort and attitude, you can start working on the technique. We got better again tonight."
 
Longwood controlled nearly every facet of the game and led for the final 35:31, boosted by a bevy of hustle plays that produced 10 steals, 12 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points. Wade and Munoz had three of those steals each, while the Lancers converted Charleston Southern's 17 turnovers into 19 points, including 12 after halftime.
 
"It started in practice—we knew we had it in practice, we just had to translate it from practice to the games," Smith said of Longwood's recent surge. "It also started with coach giving us confidence. It's contagious. We know that every game in this conference is winnable. We have to bring that confidence every game."
 
Now winners of three of their past four games, including an 84-81 overtime win at reigning Gardner-Webb this past Saturday and a 72-62 victory at High Point on Jan. 25, the Lancers will continue another compacted portion of the Big South slate with two more home games scheduled within the next four days. The first of those brings Big South unbeaten Winthrop to campus Saturday, while the second sends Campbell to town Monday.
 
 "We'll go home, or to the office rather, and enjoy this for a minute," Aldrich said. "I'm just super excited for the guys. We've won three of four, and that's exciting for them. We talk about pouring into the root, and what that means for us is we can control our attitude, our effort and our focus, but sometimes you don't get to see the fruit when you want to see the fruit. I'm really pleased because the one thing these guys have tried to do is continue to give good effort."