The Longwood Lancers men's basketball team dropped their home opener against Navy on Friday 78-70. In a back and forth battle that featured 22 lead changes, the Midshipmen used a 15-7 run to break a 63-63 tie with 5:30 remaining en route to their first victory of the season. Navy converted nine of 10 free throws during the run including 7-8 by Brennan Wyatt.
Sophomore Tristan Carey led Longwood with 17 points, playing in his first game for the Lancers after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. He also recorded seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Seniors Antwan Carter and Jeremiah Bowman also added 13 points for the Lancers, while Carter pulled a team high seven rebounds as well.
Jordan Sugars led Navy, as well as all participating players, with a game-high 21 points. J.J. Avila, James Loupos and Isaiah Roberts added 11 points apiece. The Midshipmen outshot the Lancers 54 percent (27-50) to percent (26-51) from the field. The Lancers were only able to convert 24 percent (5-21) of shots from three-point territory, while the Midshipmen shot 40 percent (6-15) from downtown.
The Lancers' (1-1) got off to a bit of a sloppy start Sunday afternoon against the Cobras of Virginia Intermont (VI) (2-3), but closed the first half on an 11-5 run and never trailed again on the way to a 91-73 victory and first win of the season. Carter recorded a double-double with 19 points and pulled a game-high 16 rebounds, while Bowman scored 17 points as well. Sophomore David Robinson came off the bench for Longwood to score a career-high 13 points, making three three-pointers. Justin Morris from VI had a game-high 27 points.
VI got off to a hot start early on, taking a 20-12 lead halfway through the first half, but the Lancers used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 22 apiece. Shortly after, Bowman scored six straight points for the Lancers to push the lead to 30-24. The Cobras made a push late in the half to cut the deficit to four with 2:36 to play, but the Lancers closed the half on an 11-5 run to take a 48-38 lead heading into the break. Carter led the way in the first half for Lancers scoring 11points, while Bowman and Robinson both scored 9 points.
In the second half, Longwood began to fire on all cylinders as the Cobras cut the lead to eight with 12:50 remaining, A 7-0 run by the Lancers shortly after would push the lead to 69-54, and the lead remained in double figures the rest of the was.
Carter became the eighth leading scorer in Longwood history, surpassing the 1,300 point mark and now has 1,317 points for his career. The Lancers received solid contributions from the bench, outscoring VI 34-24 in that category. Robinson led the bench with 13 points, while sophomore Tristan Carey and red-shirt freshman Anthony Taylor scored seven and five points, respectively. Junior Jan van der Kooij scored eight points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Lancers.
The Lancers were able to build a comfortable lead in the second half despite shooting only 45 percent for the game from the free throw line and being out-rebounded by the Cobras 47-44. The Lancers shot 50 percent (33-66) from the field, and held VIC to just 37 percent (25-67). VI's Justin Morris led all players with 27 points, while Joshua Hart added 12, and Marquette Knight came off the bench to record six points and 13 rebounds for VI.
