FARMVILLE, Va. – If first impressions are important, Longwood's introduction to its home crowd this weekend couldn't have gone much better.
 
In their second straight 30-plus-point win in Willett Hall, Longwood (2-1) had five players score in double figures and put forth a historic defensive effort to power past Mid-Atlantic Christian 93-47 Sunday afternoon in Willett Hall.
 
The 46-point win followed an 80-46 victory over Virginia University of Lynchburg Friday and saw the Lancers hold the Mustangs to a .263 field goal percentage, which is the program's lowest mark since the program's first year of Division I certification in 2007-08. The 46-point margin of victory is also the program's best under head coach Griff Aldrich, the sixth-highest in program history, and the second-best in the D-I era. 
 
Senior forward Zac Watson and sophomore guard DA Houston both contributed to that effort with career highs of 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Big South Preseason All-Conference Team pick Justin Hill neared a triple-double with seven points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
 
In addition to those double-digit scoring efforts – and others from Leslie Nkereuwem, who tied Watson for the team lead with 14, and Jesper Granlund, who scored 11 – the Lancers held Mid-Atlantic Christian to just 17 points in the first half en route to their ' second straight sub-50-point defensive outing this season.
 
"We've introduced a new concept that I've never really done where you're trying to get three consecutive stops, and we had five different segments tonight where we did that," Aldrich said. "That's really good and it shows commitment to really digging in on the defensive end. My view is, if you're focused on the defensive end, you're probably going to be focused on the offensive end as well. We took a real positive step in the first half."
 
That lockdown effort held Mid-Atlantic Christian without a field goal for more than eight minutes in the first half, during which the Lancers mounted a 26-2 run that put them ahead by double digits the rest of the way. The Mustangs shot 0-of-10 from the floor and 0-of-7 from three-point range during that stretch while turning the ball over five times.
 
Longwood turned those giveaways and missed shots into a full-court flurry that produced 16 fast-break points and 20 points off turnovers. Hill and fellow point guard Jordan Perkins sparked the majority of those transition buckets, combining for four assists and six points on those fast breaks. For the game, that backcourt duo totaled 13 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists and now boasts a combined 32 assists and just seven turnovers on the season.
 
Hill and Perkins accounted for more than half of Longwood's season-high 23 assists and helped the Lancers amass at least 20 assists in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Those were the fourth and fifth 20-assist games of the Aldrich era, and also included four helpers from transfer guard DA Houston.
 
"Part of that is a result of playing a little bit faster, so there's more transition baskets," Aldrich said of the high assist numbers. "We have what we call playmakers, rather than point guards. You saw Isaiah Wilkins bring the ball up too, and he had a bunch of really good passes. That frees things up, it puts pressure on the rim, it puts the opponents on their heels, and they can't key in on just one guy."
 
That multi-headed offensive attack has now produced 10 double-digit scorers in three games and has Longwood ranked second in the Big south in assists per game and first in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Lancers' five double-digit scorers Sunday were their most in a game since Jan. 14, 2021 against USC Upstate.
 
It also provided the Lancers more than enough firepower to overcome a 20-point game from Mid-Atlantic Christian forward Kevin Fletcher, who was the Mustangs' lone double-digit scorer.
 
After playing two games in the past three days, the Lancers will now get a four-day break to prepare for the Jerome Kersey Classic, which will pit them against American, UMBC and Western Carolina on Nov. 19-21. Ticket packages for that entire tournament Willett Hall, or single-day passes for Friday, Saturday or Sunday's action, are available at www.LongwoodTickets.com.
 
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