FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood men's basketball held High Point to a season-low 71 points, but the Lancers (12-12, 4-5 Big South) never could get on track on offense either at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Saturday afternoon.
Terry Anderson poured in 20 second-half points, and High Point (20-4, 8-1 Big South) fended off every Longwood rally after halftime to win 71-59.
Anderson had a game-high 22 on the afternoon—and four teammates joined him in double figures—but the Lancer defense made High Point work for it.
Longwood held High Point to 28 percent shooting from three and more than 20 points below their season average.
But High Point's defense returned the favor. The Panthers turned 18 Longwood turnovers into 19 points the other way.
"Defensively we held them to their lowest total the whole season," said Longwood Head Coach
Ronnie Thomas. "They've only scored under 80 two other times, and those two times they lost. The issue is we had 18 turnovers, and that turned into 19 points. So every turnover is worth a point."
Redd Thompson Jr. led Longwood with 16 points, with 13 coming after halftime.
Johan Nziemi added 12 points and seven rebounds while
Emanuel Richards chipped in 10.
The Lancers pounded the glass to the tune of 12 offensive boards on the day, but a lid on the basket in the opening half had them behind 10 at the break.
Thompson got hot in the second half, and Nziemi had 10 of his 12 in the final 20 minutes. The duo helped Longwood knifed the lead to five points multiple times.
However, every time the Lancers cut it to two possessions, either High Point forced a turnover or Anderson had the answer. He had 12 of High Point's final 14 points in the final six of the game to help put it away.
"We have got to learn the lesson that when you turn the ball over, it's not just saying, 'Oh, that's a mistake' or 'Oh, it happens,'" Thomas added. "That's a point that you're giving up, and those points over the course of a game can cost you. Tonight they cost us 19 points and we lose by 12. That's 18 shots we didn't get on the rim. Then you look at the difference. They had eight, we had 18, that's a 10 turnover differential. That can be really impactful, and it's hard to come back from, especially when you are playing a high caliber team. A team that's preseason number one and 19-4 [coming in] and really good offensively. You have to put shots on the rim, especially with the way we can offensively rebound the ball."
Longwood plays back-to-back road games next week with trips to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, February 4 and Winthrop on Saturday, February 7. Both games will air on ESPN+.
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