FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood never backed down, but Delaware State just never missed, and the Hornets (4-8) topped the Lancers (6-6) 81-76 at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
 
The visitors went 15-20 from the floor after halftime and shot better than 50 percent in the game. Camian Shell led the Hornets with the first 17 points he has scored all year, while Corey Perkins matched him with 17 as five Delaware State players scored in double figures.
 
Ademar Santos also had 17 points, and Ponce James had 13 points and a team-best six assists while Miles Webb put home 10 points.
 
For Longwood, Elijah Tucker led the way with a game-high 20 points while going 8-9 from the floor. Jaylen Benard added 15 points thanks to three triples, and Johan Nziemi chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
 
"He was a great spark," Thomas said of Elijah Tucker's effort. "But it's not just an individual thing for us right now. It's not to discredit what he did. We've got to have good individual performances for the team, but we need a lot of individuals to have performances of that nature. It's not just scoring. Sometimes it's assisting, sometimes it's rebounding. Sometimes it's cutting to make space for your teammate. On the defensive end, we've got to be a lot better as well. Give credit to Delaware State. They made shots, and they shot the ball really well, but we have to be a lot better defensively and have a little bit more of a want-to and grit to ourselves."

The two halves were each a tale of two halves, with Delaware State breaking the game open and Longwood reeling the Hornets back in.
 
In the first half, Delaware State led by as much as 13 points after James hit a jumper for a 32-19 lead with 5:45 to go in the half.
 
The Lancers responded though.
 
The defense held Delaware State to 0-6 shooting in the final 5:45 of the half to close within two, 34-32, as five guys scored in the run.
 
After halftime, Longwood took the lead on a Tucker and-one, but Perkins, Shell and Santos hit the gas to extend the lead to 67-54 with 6:41 to go.
 
Longwood again answered. Nziemi sank a pair of foul shots to start a 13-3 run that Benard capped with a triple that trimmed the lead to 70-67.
 
Delaware State hit enough free throws to close the game out from that point, fending off the Lancer rally.

"Ultimately, we just have to be a lot better," said Thomas. "It starts with the staff. We have to put guys in a better position. We knew what the [Delaware State] zone was going to look like, and I thought it made us stagnant. Now we have to move forward and find a way to be a more connected team, constantly playing together. Especially when things aren't going our way, we have to stay together and continue to play with each other and allow the ball to touch multiple hands when we play within each other and within the team."
 
Longwood hits the road for back-to-back games prior to a break for the holidays with a trips to Wake Forest on December 17 and North Carolina Central on December 20. The game at Wake Forest begins at 7 p.m. and will air on ACCNX while the game at NCCU tips at 2 on ESPN+.
 
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