In what is the most anticipated match of every season, the Longwood men’s basketball team returns home following a two-game road trip to host Big South rival Liberty at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Lancers, following their Thursday night loss to Presbyterian, is looking to end their five-game skid dating back to Jan. 18, while Liberty is currently riding a two-game win streak following their victory over Winthrop.
The last time these two rivals met on Jan. 12, Longwood took down Liberty at the Vines Center 58-51, sealing their first win over the Flames since 2015.
Boasting one of the best defenses in the Big South, Liberty ranks 16th in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 63.4 points per game in the category.
However, in their last meeting, it was Longwood’s defense who held Liberty in check allowing only 51 points, their second-lowest scoring output this season.
Preparing for round two of the defensive battle on Saturday, Longwood head coach Jayson Gee said Liberty has the ability to control the pace of the game, but was unfazed last time out.
“That’s who they are, they get teams to play at their tempo,” said Gee. “The first game at their place, playing at that tempo was beneficial for us. We’ll have to fill it out for tomorrow to see if that same tempo is beneficial for us as well.”
Gee also said he will continue to stick with the new approach of utilizing a half-court offense in hopes of increasing the scoring output.
One of Gee’s main concerns ahead of Saturday, as well as the rest of the season, is their ability to close out winnable games.
“Our emphasis has to go towards closing out games. We’ve played well enough to win these games; we just haven’t closed them out. You have to give the other teams credit though, but we’ve got to step up in those situations as well.”
Of the five games during their current losing streak, three of them have been decided by seven points or less.
Ahead of tomorrow’s pivotal rematch, Gee knows the team needs support and energy behind them as fuel to compete at a high level.
“(Lancer nation) should come out and support our team in crucial situations. Willett Hall has proven to be a quality sixth man, and we’re going to need that in huge fashion tomorrow if we’re going to beat a really good Liberty team.”
Before Friday's practice, Gee said he fears redshirt sophomore forward Jahleem Montague has broken his hand, but it has not been confirmed by team doctors. However, he has been ruled out of tomorrow's game.