Game 23 • Longwood (16-6, 5-2 Big South) at Gardner-Webb (8-12, 3-4 Big South)
Date & Time	Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 7 p.m.
Location	Boiling Springs, N.C. (Paul Porter Arena)
Game Notes	Longwood | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | Gardner-Webb | Big South
TV/Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	Live Stats
Tickets	GWU
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

THE OPENING TIP
•    Longwood opens up a two-game road swing with a trip to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night.
•    The trip is the final time the Lancers will be back-to-back true road games during the regular season.
•    Longwood has won three straight games, with the run beginning with a narrow 82-80 win over High Point on ESPNU.
•    The Lancers are in the top three in the Big South standings, one game out of first place.
•    In Big South play, four Lancers are averaging double figures in scoring, and seven players are averaging at least eight points per game.
•    Michael Christmas leads the way with 13.7 points per game in Big South games. He has made at least three triples in five times.
•    Longwood takes on a Gardner-Webb side that has shot the ball lights-out at home, shooting better than 40 percent from three there.
 
LAST TIME OUT
•    Longwood used a furious second-half rally to shoulder past USC Upstate on Saturday in front of a boisterous crowd at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
•    Michael Christmas poured in 17 points to lead six Lancers in double figures, and Longwood ripped off 50 points in the final 20 minutes.
•    The six players were a season-high and extended a streak of at least five players scoring in double figures to three straight games.
•    Kyrell Luc added 15 points. Jaylen Benard had 12 points, tying a career high, and Colby Garland chipped in 12 points and eight assists.
•    Johan Nziemi had a career best 11 rebounds to go with 11 points, and Elijah Tucker also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
•    The Lancers trimmed a 13-point first-half deficit to two at the intermission before outscoring Upstate 50-22 in the final half.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
•    Longwood is one of four teams in the Big South with a road conference win.
•    The four teams, not by coincidence, are the top four teams in the league: UNC Asheville, High Point, Longwood, and Radford.
•    The Lancers are four wins from posting a fourth-straight 20-win campaign.
•    Longwood is one of only 28 teams outside the Power conferences who have won at least 20 games in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
•    Longwood has had at least five players score in double figures in three straight games. It is the first time under Griff Aldrich the Lancers have had three straight games with at least five players scoring in double figures in each game.
•    Six players scored in double figures against USC Upstate, a mark not met since the team had six in double figures on 11/11/2023 against St. Mary's College of Maryland.
•    In the win over USC Upstate, Longwood outscored USC Upstate on a 65-26 run that spanned the final 24:04.
•    The Lancers went 22-37 from the floor while only allowing USC Upstate to go 9-31 from the deck.
•    Longwood has scored at least 50 points in a half three times this season, including the second half against USC Upstate.
•    The Lancers rank sixth in the nation in free throw attempts (26.5) and free throw makes (19.6) per game. The team is second in the Big South behind only Winthrop in both categories.
•    Longwood is also top 50 nationally in both turnovers forced (15.5, 26th) and turnover margin (+3.3, 34th).
•    Colby Garland, meanwhile, leads the Big South in assists (105), assists per game (4.8) and assist/turnover ratio (2.50). He is averaging 5.4 assists per game in Big South play.
 
QUOTABLE
"We've really grown as a team. Part of being a really good team is being able to face adversity, fight back, and come out victorious. I thought these guys made a decision late in the first half to fight and dig in. This team has a lot of room for growth. There are still a lot of areas where we can improve and that's not a criticism of where they are, but it's more a statement of what I believe their potential could be. That's exciting."
—Head Coach Griff Aldrich after the Lancers took down USC Upstate 80-54