Game 14 • Longwood (10-3)  at North Carolina Central (6-8)
Date & Time	Friday, December 20, 2024 | 7 p.m.
Location	Durham, N.C. (McDougald-McLendon Arena)
Game Notes	Longwood | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | North Carolina Central | Big South
TV/Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	Live Stats
Tickets	https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2new//team.asp?SponsorID=18678
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

THE OPENING TIP
•    Longwood plays its final game before the holiday break with a trip to North Carolina Central on Friday.
•    The Lancers also played at N.C. Central prior to the holiday break a season ago.
•    The two teams played on December 14 in Farmville, and it is the second straight year the two sides have played an in-season home-and-home.
•    North Carolina Central also had a home-and-home this year with Gardner-Webb in addition to games against Big South foes High Point, Winthrop and Radford.
•    The Lancers have a pair of true road wins this season with wins at Binghamton and Campbell.
•    Longwood had 11 players score in the win over Campbell, the seventh time this season that the Lancers have had at least 10 players score in a game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
•    Longwood's defense was sensational in a 77-55 win over Campbell.
•    The Lancers gave up only 15 made shots in the game and held Campbell to .333 shooting (15-45) from the floor.
•    Longwood forced Campbell into 14 turnovers, three higher than the Fighting Camels average, and turned it into 18 points the other way.
•    The offense attacked the basket relentlessly, pouring in 40 points in the paint and grabbing 15 offensive boards.
•    Johan Nziemi led the charge with 13 points, and Michael Christmas added 11 points while Colby Garland chipped in 11 points and six assists.
•    The Lancers had 17 assists as a team, and nine different players grabbed an offensive rebound.
•    The bench also combined for 31 points, with the team's leading scorer coming off the bench.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
•    Longwood has had its leading scorer come off the bench four times this season in 13 games.
•    Johan Nziemi led the team with 13 points at Campbell and came off the bench to do so.
•    The Lancers have one of the deepest benches in the nation, ranking 20th nationally and leading the Big South with 33.6 bench points per game.
•    The depth allows the Lancers to play fast, and the team leads the Big South in fast break points per game (14.7). That mark ranks 45th nationally.
•    Longwood also leads the Big South in turnover margin (+4.0) and ranks 28th nationally.
•    The Lancers force 16.8 turnovers per game, which is second in the Big South and 12th nationally.
•    The turnovers lead to 19.7 points per game for Longwood, and the team only gives up 12.8 points per game on turnovers.
•    Longwood is only surrendering 66.5 points per game, which ranks second in the Big South.
•    The Lancers are 7-0 when surrendering 66 points or less.
•    Longwood has won two true road games this season in addition to a neutral site game at the Paradise Jam.
•    The Lancers are 3-2 away from Farmville. The last time the team posted a winning record away from home was in the 2021-22 season, when the team went 7-5.
•    Over the past three seasons, Longwood has won 23 true road contests, with the team's eight true road wins in 2022-23 a high-water mark in the past two decades.
•    On offense, six players average at least seven points per game, with preseason All-Big South selection Michael Christmas leading the team at 11.8 points per game.
•    Christmas has scored in double figures nine times, including the past five games.