FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood men's basketball and USC Upstate went down to the wire on Wednesday night at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
 
Unfortunately for the Lancers (14-11, 2-8 Big South), USC Upstate (8-15, 3-7 Big South) used a late run to create some separation before winning 69-64 in a hard-fought, back-and-forth game.
 
Over the final 11 minutes, the two sides traded the lead seven times and were tied four more as neither team could create much separation.
 
Trae Broadnax had a big second half for the visitors, scoring 11 of his 20 points, but Walyn Napper poured in 10 of his 17 after halftime for Longwood. For Longwood, Michael Christmas and Johnathan Massie also scored in double figures with 10 apiece while Justin Bailey had 14 points for USC Upstate.
 
However, USC Upstate used a 6-0 spurt, aided in part by a technical foul with 3:16 to go, to take the lead for good.
 
"I've gotta own this," said Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich. "It's unacceptable to get a technical with three-and-a-half minutes left. This is my fault. We preach discipline, and that was a very costly error on my part. I own that. This is in large part my loss. It went from a one point game to a five point game. All I can do is say I'm sorry to the guys and try to do better."
 
While Massie had seven of his 10 points in the first half, Christmas and Napper helped power Longwood back into the game after halftime. Upstate hit four of its final five threes in the first half to take a 37-30 lead at the break, but the Lancers rallied back.
 
"I told the guys, I was extremely proud," said Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich. "We've been saying for a while that we need to be more competitive, that we need to fight. I thought, for the most part, we had great competitive spirit tonight. I thought this team out here was aggressive. They were the aggressor. I thought they did a really good job. I was extremely proud of how hard they played."
 
After halftime, the Spartans pushed the lead to nine, but Christmas answered with a triple, the first of three on the night to steady the ship. Napper then started knifing to the basket, and the Lancer defense elevated to a higher level.
 
Napper capped a 13-4 run with back-to-back layups to knot the score at 43. A few minutes later, his rack attack game Longwood a 48-46 lead with 11:53 to go, the team's first lead since midway through the first half.
 
That set up a furious finish down the stretch, with neither side leading by more than two possessions.
 
The Lancers went 3-4 at the line to take a 60-59 lead with 4:41 to go, but then went cold from the floor as Upstate answered with the decisive 6-0 spurt.
 
Despite the setback, Napper hit a pair of layups to pull the Lancers within three, 67-64, as the defense forced a pair of late turnovers.
 
With 34 seconds left, Longwood had a pair of open threes refuse to go down, and USC Upstate finally secured the basketball to put the game away with two Broadnax free throws.
 
"It's not enough just to play hard," Aldrich added. "You also have to execute. You can't miss dunks. You can't miss an incredible number of shots around the rim. You can't shoot 14-27 from the free throw line. This is the second game in a row we've shot poorly from the free throw line. That's part of execution in these close games. The hope is now, and the expectation is, now that we've got the competitive spirit back, now we've got to execute. We've got to execute better. We can't take hope layups and give up possessions. We really have to value each possession."
 
Longwood stays at home on Saturday and hosts Winthrop. The game is set for 3 p.m., and it is sponsored by Walk2Campus. The game will air on ESPN+ and on the radio on WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country.
 
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