Longwood University Athletics

Game 12: Longwood (7-4, 0-0 Big South) at St. Francis (3-8, 0-0 NEC)
Date & Time	Sunday, December 19, 2021 | 12:30 p.m.
Location	Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. (Pope Athletic Center)
Game Notes	Longwood | St. Francis | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | St. Francis | Big South
Live Stats	St. Francis Live Stats
Video/TV	NEC Front Row
Radio	WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country FM
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

The Opening Tip
•    Beginning a two-game road swing that will wrap up their non-conference schedule, the Lancers head to Brooklyn to face St. Francis Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The game will mark Longwood's first trip to The Empire State since a road game at Cornell in Ithica on Dec. 17, 2018.
•    At 7-4, the Lancers are two wins away from securing the program's best non-conference winning percentage of the Division I era. 
•    Longwood is currently the second-highest ranked Big South team in the NCAA NET rankings. At No. 158, the Lancers trail only No. 121 Campbell and sit 21 spots higher than No. 179 Winthrop. 
•    Longwood leads the Big South in points per game (79.7) and ranks second in scoring defense (62.0).  The Lancers also lead the league in rebounding margin (+9.3), assists (16.7), turnover margin (+3.55), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42) and offensive rebounding percentage (.385). 

Last Time Out
•    Bookending a 2021 home slate in which they went a combined 13-3 on their home court – 6-2 in the second half of the 2020-21 season and 7-1 in the first half of 2021-22 – the Lancers asserted their home-court advantage in Willett Hall once again with a 98-56 rout of Carolina University Tuesday in Willett Hall.
•    The win was Longwood's third straight and gave the program its second 7-1 home start in four years under head coach Griff Aldrich and seventh such home start in program history. 
•    Leslie Nkereuwem led Longwood with 17 points, followed by Isaiah Wilkins with 15, Jaylani Darden with a career-high 11 and four other Lancers who scored at least eight.
•    Longwood hit double-digit three-pointers for a third straight game and got 52 points from its bench.
•    The Lancers held the Bruins under 30 points in both halves and forced 25 turnovers. 
 
By The Numbers
•    Longwood has the Big South's top three leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio. Jordan Perkins leads the conference with a 3.9 mark (35/9), followed by DA Houston (2.8, 33/12) in second place and Justin Hill (2.5, 47/19) in third. The Lancers lead the Big South overall with a 1.42 assist-to-turnover ratio.
•    Longwood has totaled more assists than turnovers in nine of 11 games this season. The Lancers' 11.8 turnovers per game rank as the second-fewest in the Big South. 
•    Longwood is the only Big South team with four players averaging double-digit scoring.
•    Longwood's bench is contributing 34.4 points per game, with 12.1 of those coming from Leslie Nkereuwem. Nkereuwem leads the Big South in scoring off the bench, as well as field goal percentage with a .658 (48-of-73) clip. 
•    Leading the Big South in scoring offense (79.7 points per game) and ranks second in scoring defense (62.0 points allowed per game), Longwood is one of only two Big South schools ranked among the league's top five in both categories. Longwood leads the conference in scoring margin with an average of +17.7 points per game.
•    Nate Lliteras and DeShaun Wade have both hit a three-pointer in every game this season. 
•    The Lancers have hit at least 10 three-pointers in three consecutive games. Longwood's .371 (99-of-267) three-point percentage ranks second in the Big South.
•    Longwood has excelled on its home court under fourth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, amassing a 33-17 record in Willett Hall during his tenure. That includes a 7-1 mark this season, an 8-5 record in 2020-21, a 8-6 record in 2019-20 and a 10-5 mark in 2018-19. 
•    Only Iowa and Georgetown have scored more than 65 points against Longwood. The Lancers have held five teams to 55 points or fewer.
•    The Lancers' +8.8 rebounding margin ranks 21st nationally, while their 14.0 offensive rebounds ranks 13th in the nation. 

Quotable
"We have a lot of good players. A lot of guys who I'm sure would love to have their scoring average be a little bit higher or their minutes a little bit higher, but they're sacrificing for the team and putting the team above themselves. That's exciting to see."
— Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich following the win over Carolina

Series History
•    Longwood and St. Francis meet for the second time in series history and the second time since Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich took over the Lancers in 2018-19.
•    Longwood won the inaugural meeting in the series 86-77 in Farmville on Nov. 14, 2019, which was the fourth game of Aldrich's second season. Leslie Nkereuwem and DeShaun Wade are the only Lancers remaining on this year's roster from that game.
•    The last meeting saw then-senior guard Shabooty Phillips lead Longwood with 23 points and four assists in the rout. Wade contributed eight points off the bench, while Nkereuwem scored five in his fourth career game.

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