CHARLESTON, S.C. – Road wins never come easily, and Longwood men's basketball gutted out a 75-70 win over The Citadel in a close, furious finish.
 
After traveling more than 9,500 miles and playing their fifth straight road game, the Lancers (6-5) earned a second straight road win, and their third road win on the trip, with a gritty effort.
 
Isaiah Wilkins once again led the charge with 17 points, nine rebounds and multiple clutch free throws, but he wasn't alone. Eight players scored for Longwood, and seemingly every player up and down the roster left their mark on the game in some form or fashion.

"It was a great win for us. I told the guys, this is like a conference game," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. "It's on the road, and it's going to be a dogfight. The Citadel, credit to them, there is no quit in them. I thought a couple of times, we were poised to take a big jump, and they would make a play and compete and get right back in it. But that's like a conference matchup. They're going to be a dog fight. To find a way to come out and win was exceptional."
 
DeShaun Wade added 12 points and the go-ahead foul shots, and Zac Watson came up with a monster block to preserve the win while posting eight points and seven rebounds. Jesper Granlund added 10 points as well.
 
The spread attack was enough to overcome a dazzling shooting display by Austin Ash for The Citadel (5-6). The grad transfer drained nine threes for 27 points, one three shy of tying the program record in a single game.

"The story of this game is our execution focus," Aldrich said. "We didn't execute perfectly and at times didn't even execute well, but we have constantly been working with these guys to try to have a commitment to our standard. We've talked about that a lot, that you're not going to be perfect, but we want to have a commitment to the standard to try to execute. This was maybe the first game where I felt like, we probably put 30-35 minutes together where we really were trying to execute. You're going to make mistakes. You're going to leave that shooter open. But it wasn't from a lack of being committed to the standard and losing your mind for a minute. It was a mistake, and we can live with that. Now its just about trying to get execution a little bit better.

"I was extremely proud of these guys. I thought this team took a step forward in a material way with the win today. Honestly, it has nothing to do with whether we won or lost. I told the guys I was proud of their approach. If we can maintain and be consistent with that approach, this team is going to get better and better and better."
 
Longwood led by eight at halftime and extended the lead to 11 multiple times in the second half, but Ash kept dragging The Citadel back in. He hit six threes late, and the Bulldogs kept battling back into the game.
 
The Citadel used a 14-4 run to cut Longwood's lead to 63-62 with 3:34 left in the game. Wade wiggled into the paint to earn a pair of foul shots. He hit both to stem the tide, but Ash hit a pair of threes over the next two minutes to give The Citadel the 68-65 lead.
 
The Lancers didn't pack it in, and Wilkins went to work. The senior picked Elijah Morgan's pocket and converted it into a layup to cut the lead to one, and the Lancer defense forced a missed three from Ash on the ensuing possession. Wade was fouled while grabbing the defensive rebound and coolly sank both free throws for a 69-68 Lancer lead.
 
Watson then denied Madison Durr along the baseline, and Wilkins sank two foul shots to extend the lead to three with 23 seconds to play.
 
While Durr hit one last shot, Longwood was perfect from the line in the final 20 seconds to close the game out.
 
"We're going to enjoy this one," Aldrich said and then joked. "I don't know who the idiot was that put this schedule together, but five road games in a row, and for these guys to go 3-0 in non-buy games is really remarkable. It's a real feat.

"Today we'll enjoy it. Tomorrow we'll start to turn the page to South Carolina State. A big shout out to our staff. I already got the scout for South Carolina State from our staff. How hard they work is unbelievable. We will probably look at that on the bus on the way home and then dig in on Sunday and Monday and try to get a win on Tuesday and then take some time to celebrate Christ's birth."

The Lancers are back at home on Tuesday afternoon. The team hosts South Carolina State in their final non-conference game at 2 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+ and on the radio on WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country.
 
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