Game 1 • Longwood (0-0, 0-0 Big South) vs. Mary Baldwin (0-0, 0-0 USA South)
Date & Time	Monday, November 3, 2025 | 7 p.m.
Location	Farmville, Va. | Joan Perry Brock Center
Game Notes	Longwood | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | Mary Baldwin | Big South
TV/Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	Live Stats
Tickets	Tickets
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodMBB

THE OPENING TIP
•    Longwood opens the 2025-26 season with a matchup against Mary Baldwin, the second straight season the two teams have played.
•    The Lancers were selected third in the Big South Preseason Poll, which was announced in October by the conference, behind only High Point and UNC Asheville.
•    Elijah Tucker was named to the Preseason First Team All-Big South team by the league coaches, joining Isaiah Wilkins as the only Lancers on the preseason all-conference first team since the Lancers joined the Big South.
•    Ronnie Thomas is the new head coach of the Lancers following five years on staff.
•    The Lancers will face a 15-game non-conference schedule before the 16-game Big South slate begins on December 31.
•    Highlights in the non-conference portion include road trips to both Pitt and Wake Forest of the ACC in addition to a home date with James Madison.
 
FAMILIAR FACES AMID CHANGE
•    Longwood head coach Ronnie Thomas enters his first year leading the Lancers after serving on staff for the previous five seasons.
•    As a part of the transition from former head coach Griff Aldrich, the majority of the staff remained as well, with associate head coach Marty McGillan along with assistants Matt Sholtis, Odri Dedolli and Myo Baxter-Bell all staying in Farmville.
•    In addition, Thomas added his former boss and longtime Guilford College coach Tom Palombo to his staff as an associate head coach.
•    Former Campbell assistant coach Emmanuel Matey joined the staff as well.
•    On the court, Thomas and his staff brought in 10 new players with five returnees.
•    In addition to Tucker, who was selected to the Preseason All-Big South First Team, Longwood returns Emanuel Richards, KJ McClurg, Johan Nziemi and Jaylen Benard.
•    The newcomers: Jacoi Hutchinson, Redd Thompson Jr., Alphonzo Billups III [who goes by Fats], Elijah Kelly, Isaiah Kalala, Gerald Burr III, Jaylin Payne, Elijah Jones, Jerome Williams and Quadri Bashiru.

BY THE NUMBERS
•    Longwood opens the 2025-26 season with a home game for the second straight season after opening against Randolph a season ago.
•    The Lancers have won two Big South titles in the past four seasons.
•    In that four-season span, Longwood has won 85 games, which marks the best four-season stretch in team history, besting the previous mark of 81 set from 1978-79 through 1981-82.
•    Longwood has also had a winning record for four straight seasons, a first since accomplishing the feat in six straight seasons from 1978-79 through 1983-84.
•    The Lancers were selected third in the Big South Preseason Poll for a second straight season. The team had never been picked in the top three in teh poll in back-to-back seasons since joining the league.
•    Since Ronnie Thomas was elevated to assistant coach in 2021 after joining the staff as the Director of Program Development in 2020, the Lancers have become a ferocious team on the offensive glass, averaging better than 11 offensive rebounds per game in each season.
•    The team's best season was in in 2023-24 when the team snared 470 offensive boards, and the team led the Big South with a +8.6 overall rebounding margin.
•    The two seasons Longwood led the Big South in rebounding margin (+6.7 in 2021-22 and +8.4 in 2023-24), the team won the Big South title.
•    In the Big South, the team that has led the conference in rebounding margin has won the title in five of the past six seasons.
•    The Lancers also led the Big South in steals in both 2021-22 and 2023-24.