The Longwood men’s basketball team overcame a slow start Saturday night to take down their crosstown rival Hampden-Sydney Tigers 71-68 in a preseason exhibition matchup on Nov. 7.
“I’ve got to give it to Hampden-Sydney, they came out with a chip on their shoulder,” said junior guard Darrion Allen. “They came out fired up.”
Allen led the Lancers on the offensive end with his 15 point and 11 rebound effort in his starting role. Last season, Allen was the go-to ‘sixth man’ for the Lancers, but was forced to step in as the two-guard due to the top two point guards on the depth chart being unavailable.
“I thought he was terrific,” said third-year men’s basketball head coach Jayson Gee on Allen’s performance. “I challenged him because he’s a veteran. He’s been here since day one and I thought it was really exciting seeing him step up. His ability to defend and his ability to make shots and rebound the basketball I thought was vital to us winning.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead behind the hot hand of senior guard Jake Duncan, who hit four consecutive shots from beyond-the-arc for 12 of Hampden-Sydney’s first 13 points.
“(Jake) Duncan, I’ve got to give it to him; he shot the lights out,” said Allen.
Gee added, “We had people helping off of him, that was a stupid coaching move. The reality of it was when we decided to keep people on him, he was less effective but once you let a shooter get going, you know you get what you got.
Duncan finished with a career-high 28 points including eight three-pointers to lead all scorers.
Longwood found themselves in a hole from the start and were down by as many as 11 in the first half, but a late surge in the closing minutes of the first half allowed them to cut the deficit to 35-31 at the half.
Even with shots not falling, the Lancers used their size advantage to get to the rim and force the Tigers into foul trouble. At the end of the first half, three Tigers had at least three fouls as the team committed 16 in the first 20 minutes of action.
“At the beginning of the game, we were putting up shots from the arc and they weren’t falling,” said Allen. “Coach brought us back in and told us what we were doing and that we needed to get to the hole, so I started doing that and they gave us layups and gave us fouls.”
Foul trouble would end up playing a big role in the outcome as four Tigers ended up fouling out, those four being Andrew Evans, Mitch Owens, Guilherme Guimaraes and Nick Chase.
Other Lancers that contributed in big moments included sophomore guard Kanayo Obi-Rapu Jr. with 13 points, redshirt sophomore and Drexel transfer Khris Lane with eight points and 12 boards and freshman forward/guard Chris Shields who added 10 points.
Longwood went to the free throw line 37 times Saturday night but were only able to hit 21 allowing Hampden-Sydney to stick around until the very end.
“We’ve got to work on free throws and making layups,” said Gee. “We’ve got to become a better free throw shooting team.”
Allen added, “At the end of the day, that’s what the game’s going to come down to; free throws and layups. You make those you win the game.”
Longwood will open their season with two more Division III opponents this next week as they take on Randolph College Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. and LaRoche College on Monday, Nov. 16.
November 7, 2015
November 7, 2015
November 7, 2015
November 7, 2015