OPENING TIP
•   Longwood hosts Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon for it's conference home opener.
•   The Lancers wrapped up a stretch that saw them play six of eight on the road. For the rest of the season, they don't play more than two straight away from home.
•   Longwood is perfect at home, 8-0, in the debut season of the Joan Perry Brock Center.
•   Since joining the Big South, Longwood is 5-6 in conference home openers. Under Head Coach
Griff Aldrich, the team is 3-2 in their first home conference game.
•   The Lancers have held opponents to 63 points per game, and they have held an opponent to fewer than 60 points in regulation six times this season.
•   Four players average double figures in scoring:
Walyn Napper (14.0 ppg),
Johnathan Massie (12.4),
Michael Christmas (11.3) and
Szymon Zapala (10.5).
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LAST TIME OUT
•   Longwood battled on the road at Winthrop but fell 68-60 in overtime in a tight contest.
•   Four Lancers scored in double figures, with
Michael Christmas leading the pack with 16 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
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Walyn Napper,
Szymon Zapala and
DA Houston added 10 points apiece.
•   However, the Eagles received 15 points apiece from Kelton Talford, Kasen Harrison and Nick Johnson, in addition to game-tying free throws and 10 points from K.J. Doucet.
•   Longwood led by five, 25-20, at the half, but Winthrop slowly whittled away the lead before tying the game at 55 with 34 seconds left.
•   Johnson ultimately hit the clutch shots for Winthrop in overtime, scoring five straight points for a 62-57 lead.
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BY THE NUMBERS
•   Longwood reached the 12-win threshold faster this season than in any prior in team history.
•   The team got there on Dec. 13 at Milwaukee, nearly one month better than the previous best, when the team earned its 12th win on Jan. 7 a season ago.
•   The Lancer defense has fueled the team to the strong start, holding opponents to a league-best 63 points per game, the 18th best mark in the nation.
•   Eighteen times, Longwood has held an opponent to fewer than 32 points in a half this year.
•   Longwood is 8-0 at home this season and 62-20 at home under Head Coach
Griff Aldrich.
•   In the Joan Perry Brock Center, the Lancers are averaging 82.4 points per game this year and only surrendering 58.4 points per game.
•   The Lancers have served as one of the top rebounding outfits in the Big South, ranking second in the league in rebounding margin (+11.8).
•   That margin ranks ninth in the nation.
•   Longwood has won the battle on the glass 14 times in 16 games and is 11-3 when doing so.
•   Longwood grabs 13.9 offensive rebounds per game, 20th best in the nation and first in the Big South.
•   Four players average in double figures in scoring:
Walyn Napper (14-9th in the Big South),
Johnathan Massie (12.4-16th Big South),
Michael Christmas (11.3-22nd Big South),
Szymon Zapala (10.5-26th Big South).
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Michael Christmas is second in the Big South and 54th nationally with four double-doubles.
•   He also is second in the league and 40th nationally in rebounds (126), and he is fourth in the Big South in rebounds per game (7.9). He is one of six players with at least 35 offensive boards in the league.
•   He and
Szymon Zapala both average 2.3 offensive boards per game, good for a tie for fourth in the Big South.
•   The Lancers rank second in the Big South in attendance.
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QUOTABLE
"We had good individual play. I just didn't think we had five guys connected playing together, playing urgently. We had it in stretches. We extended a lead, and we were really good defensively, but then we dipped. They started driving us, and there was a foul called or a basket scored every time down. It doesn't matter whether the fouls are called or not. You have to elevate your game and stop them. And we just didn't do that."
—Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich after Winthrop
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SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Record vs. Charleston Southern       11-10
Under Coach Aldrich                                              6-2
Current Streak                                                          L 1
First Meeting                                  L 73-67 12/22/2006
Last Meeting                                    L 75-63 1/28/2023
•   The two sides split the season series in the 2022-23 season.
•   Each side won in the other team's gym.
•   Four Lancers scored in double digits at Charleston. Among returners,
Jesper Granlund had 14 points and
Walyn Napper added nine.
•   In the return game in Farmville, Charleston Southern made eight first-half threes to take an early lead it never relinquished.
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#GoWood #HorsePower
