FARMVILLE, Va. – Reigning Southern Conference champion UNC Greensboro flexed its NCAA-leading scoring muscle in the second half to overcome a halftime deficit and upend Longwood 3-1 Tuesday evening at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
Entering the game averaging a NCAA-best 3.07 goals per game, the Spartans (12-3-1) found themselves in unfamiliar territory trailing the Lancers 1-0 at halftime. However, a 57th-minute equalizer from the nation's No. 2 scoring leader Theo Collomb answered Longwood forward Tosin Ayokunle's first-half go-ahead strike and sparked a second-half surge that propelled UNC Greensboro to its third straight win.
 
That goal from Collomb ignited the Spartan offense, as less than a minute later JC Ngando stuck in the game-winner to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead. Joseph Skinner capped the scoring run with an insurance goal in the 83rd minute to punctuate the victory.
 
The goals from Collomb and Ngando – who also assisted each other on both of those strikes – erased an upset bid by a Lancer (5-9-2) team that became only the fourth this season to shut out UNC Greensboro in a first half and only the third to take a lead into halftime. All three of UNC Greensboro's goals also came after Longwood pulled starting goalkeeper Jacob Reimers and multiple starters at halftime in preparation for the upcoming Big South finale against Radford and start of the Big South Championship tournament next week.
 
"The game showed our lads a lot about what it takes to compete at the highest level of the NCAA," said Longwood head coach Jon Atkinson. "There were high demands placed on the guys, and we withstood a lot throughout. It was good to get the go-ahead goal so we had something to protect, but on the night it wasn't quite enough. Now we'll get some rest and mentally recover in readiness for our last conference game."
 
Meanwhile, UNC Greensboro's three second-half goals brought their NCAA-leading total to 49 on the season and kept them atop the national leaderboard as the only team averaging more than 3.00 per game. The Spartans have now scored 13 goals in their past three games and at least three goals in 10 of their 16 games.
 
The loss comes in Longwood's final non-conference tilt of the season and sends the Lancers into a week-long break during which they will prepare for the regular-season finale against Radford on Nov. 3. Currently in third place in the Big South with a 3-3-1 record and 10 points, the Lancers hold a one-point lead in that spot over fourth-place Winthrop and Radford and a three-point advantage over sixth-place Presbyterian.
 
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