FARMVILLE, Va.— It mattered not how strait the gate, nor how charged with punishments the scroll.

The Lancers were captains of their fate. They were masters of their souls.

Down eight points with the clock showing 1:56 left in the game—a game that the Lancers had not yet held a lead—Jaylen Benard stepped into a wide-open three against the visiting UT Martin Skyhawks defense. Lead down to five.

On the next possession, KJ McClurg, who led the Lancers (4-0) with 25 points, drew a foul to get to the line for two shots. Lead down to three.

After a missed shot by the Skyhawks (2-2), it was Benard again open for 3. Tie game.

A defensive foul put UT Martin's Afan Trnka to the line, where he had been perfect all game. But the student section came alive and distracted him just enough to have the ball clang off the back of the rim. The Lancers? They put the ball in their fastest player's hand, and Kyrell Luc found his way back to the free throw line with three seconds left. Not a fanny was in a seat as he swished them both. 64-62, Longwood win.

They led for exactly three seconds, but they were the only three seconds that mattered.

"Credit our guys for finding a way to win," said head coach Griff Aldrich. "So much of sports is finding a way regardless of how you are playing, how you are shooting, or how things are clicking. I thought our guys never gave up, particularly the guys who were on the court at the end of the game."

McClurg had a breakout game, scoring 25 points, drawing five fouls, tallying two steals, and shooting a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Johan Nziemi added 8 points, and Benard went 2-for-3 from deep to add eight more points to go with six rebounds.

For much of the game, it looked like the Lancers were being handed their first loss of the young season. UT Martin stretched out a 13-point lead midway through the first half and found an answer every time the Lancers threatened.

"Our approach was off from the get go," said Aldrich. "You look at tonight's team and the team that was on the court Wednesday, and they look different. We're trying to establish our identity and figure out what it means to be that team on a day-in, day-out basis. We found six guys at the end that we were going to run with and lay everything out for the team, and they got over the top with three seconds left."

The first half started slowly and remained thus for the Lancers, who were frustrated by a lanky, long Skyhawks team.

On defense, the Skyhawk arms seemed one inextricable beam, as the poet said, stretching far beyond what seemed probable or even possible to marry fingertips and leather; the ensuing disruption kept the white shirts on their heels, often settling for unwelcome shots.

On offense, they used their significant height advantage to, well, their advantage. Ten of the Skyhawks clock in at 6-foot-7 or taller, and they threw endless bodies into the paint to the frustration of forwards Elijah Tucker, Trey Hicks and Nziemi.

The Lancers managed just 24 points in the first half, frustrated by the inability to play their brand of inside-out basketball.

They found a spark in the mid-range as halftime neared, however, cutting a double-digit lead to nine by the time the buzzer sounded.

Of course, you can't come back from a nine-point deficit with one shot, but boy, oh boy, back-to-back 3s launched from the mitts of KJ McClurg sure did help the cause du jour.

Four times the Lancers made it a one-possession game and had the ball in their hands ready to tie it, but couldn't find the bottom of the net.

McClurg took a steal to the rim with twelve minutes to go in the half and then followed the next possession with a huge 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to three with 11:23 to play. But if McClurg was playing like Superman, the Skyhawks had their Lex Luthor in Josué Grullon, whose 22 points off the bench always came at the right time, quieting the JPB crowd and putting the Lancers back onto their heels.

But in the end, the Lancers found just enough magic to overcome the hole they had dug for themselves, and remain undefeated on the season.

The Lancers now enter a stretch of four games on the road: the first at Binghamton on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m., then to the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands, where their first game will match them up against the UAB Blazers. Aldrich said he hopes the time on the road—especially four games in eight days—will bring the team together.

"Part of our goal at Longwood is to provide our guys with a great experience," he said." This is a really talented bunch of guys, and they've been invited to play in a national tournament against strong competition. This is a time for us to bond as a group. We are going to play a lot of basketball, and we are still trying to figure out who we are, but that's what November and December are about. I'm excited about the potential of this group and I know their character in the locker room is really strong. That  character will push through, and I think we are going to be really good in January and February.

#GoWood #HorsePower