The Longwood men’s basketball team fell 81-65 at the hands of the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs on Wednesday March 5 in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament in Myrtle Beach.
Longwood was led by senior guard Tristan Carey who set a milestone by tallying career point number 1,500 on a transition bucket after a no-look pass from teammate Karl Ziegler.
“It would feel a lot better if the game had been won, but to accomplish something like that in three years here at Longwood feels really great,” said Carey. “I just wish I had another year to push that number up.”
Carey also finished the night with 18 points after having just two in the first half.
“I just kept my composure,” said Carey. “I wouldn’t let scoring define how I play. You’re not going to go into the half scoring 10 or 15 points every game.”
The loss put an end to the first year under Head Coach Jayson Gee who came in this past offseason to inherit a young team with some talent.
“It was a good first year,” said Gee. “I thought we laid some foundation on our program. My number one goal was to establish relevance.”
After the offseason change, Carey was seen as the leader who Gee would turn to as someone who could teach the younger guys how Longwood aspires to play.
“It’s been a long season with the injuries and the ups and downs, but it’s been a great year,” said Carey.
Gardner-Webb came out and used a similar game plan that was successful in the only regular season matchup back on Jan. 29th that led to an 82-62 win in Farmville.
“I thought it was a good team effort by our guys,” said Gardner-Webb Head Coach Tim Craft. “We had a lot of different guys contribute with six guys in double figures.”
The Runnin’ Bulldogs used their size to their advantage as they outrebounded the Lancers 42-22.
“I thought we were really good in transition,” said Craft. “Our bench kind of sparked us as well, and then on the glass we were terrific.”
Sophomore forward Jerome Hill set a first round record for rebounds in a single game, nearly out-rebounding Longwood by himself. Hill finished the game with 16 boards and five coming on the offensive side of the ball.
“I always come in thinking that our players are going to miss, so I try my hardest to get into position for the rebound,” said Hill.
Defense and winning possessions has been the name of the game for Gardner-Webb all season long, and it proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome.
“They’re a really good defensive team,” said sophomore guard Lucas Woodhouse. “They’re solid and disciplined. They take you out of what you want to do, so you have to give credit to them.”
Junior guard Tyler Strange also had a big game for the Runnin’ Bulldogs as he had 12 points and played lock-down defense on Carey and Woodhouse for most of the night.
“Coach tells me all the time that I have to be the best on-ball defender on our team,” said Strange. “I come in every night hoping to guard the best player on the other team. I’m just trying to not let him get what he averages and make it to where it’s not easy; but there’s going to be shots he’s going to knock down no matter what.”
The loss was the last game for Carey in a Lancer uniform after he transferred in from LaSalle University at the end of his freshman season.
“I had fun with the new guys and I had fun throughout the whole year just soaking everything in,” said Carey. “You just have to cherish every moment.”
With the win, Gardner-Webb advances to play against VMI on Friday March 7 at 8 p.m. to see who moves on to the Semifinal round on Saturday.
“VMI is a great team,” said Strange. “I’m really excited to get another chance. We have a bitter taste in out mouth about how that game ended; we had many chances to win, and we’re ready for another shot at them with a chance to go into the Semifinals.”
