Men's Basketball Struggles in Invitational

Last Tuesday, Head Coach Mike Gillian and Longwood's Men's Basketball team competed in their first game of the South Padre Island Invitational against the University of Richmond Spiders in Richmond, Virginia. Then 0-4, the Lancers were hoping to take down their second Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in two years. Last December, the Lancers took down the Colonials of George Washington University, one of the more impressive victories since becoming Division 1 certified two years prior.

Last Tuesday however, the Lancers fell to 0-5 after a last-minute collapse led to a 65-52 defeat. The Lancers led 34-33 at the half, as well as 48-39 with only eight minutes to play before the Spiders would go off on a tearing 24-6 run to close out the game. In the first five games of the season, sophomore Antwan Carter (16.3 ppg) and redshirt senior Dana Smith (15.0 ppg) have carried most of the scoring load for the Lancers and continued to do vs. Richmond. Smith finished the game with 16 points and Carter added 15. Each pulled down seven rebounds as well. Sophomore Martiz Washington also contributed with 9 points all of which came from behind the arc.

One of the upsides to the Lancers play this season has been their turnover margin (+1), with a ratio of 13.5 to opponents 14.5 a game. Against the Spiders however the Lancers lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, committing 19 turnovers to Richmond's 16.

Richmond's pressure 3-2 zone and full court trap off of made baskets kept the Lancers from getting into a solid groove on offense, but were able to keep the game which featured nine ties and eight lead changes close thanks to offensive rebounds that were converted into second chance points.

In the second half the Lancers started off slow turning the ball over three times in the first two minutes that gave the Spiders a 6-0 run to start the half. With the score 39-36 in favor of Richmond with 15:33 to play, the Lancers responded with a vigorous run of their own. After Carter made of two free throws cutting the deficit to 39-37, Washington connected for his second field goal from beyond the arc to give the Lancers their first lead of the half at 40-39. Immediately following it was the Lancers turn to convert turnovers to points, when a Kevin Swecker steal led to an old-fashion three point play for Aaron Mitchell, a play that proved to be a momentum boost for Gillian and company.

After Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney picked up a technical foul, Swecker would hit both free throws extending the margin to 45-39. Seconds later, Washington would connect on his third three-pointer of the game giving the Lancers a comfortable 48-39 lead with just under nine minutes to play.

After holding the Spiders scoreless for five minutes (15:33-10:28), the Lancers were in quality position to earn their first win of the season. The Spiders would respond though and prove they were the team to beat.

The Lancers sloppy play in the final minutes, which included eight turnovers in the final eight minutes, allowed Richmond to climb back and cut the lead to 48-45 with only six minutes left in regulation. With four timeouts left, Gillian elected to let his team play through the Spiders 6-0 run that cut the lead to only three. Smith would put the Lancers back up by four after a pair of free throws, but two big buckets by Spider standout and preseason 1st Team All A-10 selection Kevin Anderson (19.3 ppg) and a even bigger three-pointer by Ryan Butler (6.8 ppg) gave Richmond a 53-50 lead with 4:22 left on the clock.

With the Spiders up 57-50 with just over two minutes to play, a Smith jumper would cut the lead to five but would be the Lancers final basket in regulation. Richmond would hit there free throws and not look back as the Lancers offense looked stiff in the closing minutes.

The 65-52 final score was no indication however, as the Lancers played tough throughout and had numerous opportunities of their own. The loss was the team's fifth in a row to open the 2009-10 campaign taking their record to 0-5 on the season.

In the last two games of the Invitational, the Lancers would travel to Texas to take on Bethune-Cookman and Chattanooga. Each game was close, but the Lancers failed to come out victorious in either game as both decisions were by four points.

In the first game versus the Wildcats of Bethune-Cooke on Friday afternoon, the Lancers had a 34-33 advantage at halftime for the second straight outing but would be unable to come out on top. Longwood had an opportunity to tie the game at 64 with a one-and-one free throw opportunity but was unable to sink the first. The Wildcats would then connect on 2-4 from the charity strike to secure the 66-62 victory.

Carter and Smith would lead the Lancers once again; Carter putting up 19 points in 25 minutes off the bench and Smith tallied 15 points and seven rebounds. Swecker ended his struggles from behind the arc as well, going 4-7 from long range totaling 12 points.

In the seventh place game on Saturday, Longwood would again fall this time to Chattanooga 74-70. Washington and Swecker came out firing to give the Lancers a 9-0 lead on three three-pointers to start the game. Each team would go back and forth exchanging runs, but for the 3rd straight game the Lancers would lead at the half and be incapable of holding off their opponent.

Carter and Smith led once again with 18 points apiece. Though each have contributed strong play all season, the inconsistency of the Lancers supporting cast can be attributed to the team's lackluster 0-7 start.

For a team that recorded its highest win total (17) in the Division 1 era last season, this seasons performance has failed to meet the high expectations many had for Gillian and the Lancers.