A bright first half was not enough for the Longwood men’s basketball team, as UNC Asheville cruised to an 88-74 victory on Jan. 30. The Lancers started strongly but faded in the second half, falling to a 6-17 record this season while the Bulldogs improved to 15-8.
“We just got overwhelmed by a very good basketball team,” said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee on the official Longwood athletics website.
The Lancers came into Asheville looking to end a three-game losing skid against the Bulldogs, but were forced to do so without star senior forward Shaquille Johnson, who missed his third straight game with an ankle injury.
Although the Big South-leading Bulldogs were heavy favorites ahead of the game, the Lancers held their own in the opening period. Ten points from redshirt sophomore forward Khris Lane and the team averaging 45.2 percent from the field helped keep the Lancers close at halftime, down 36-33.
Despite only being down by three at the break, Longwood was unable to keep up in the second half. UNC Asheville displayed the talent that has them atop the Big South and comfortably pulled ahead of the visitors, never trailing after halftime.
The home side broke out offensively, scoring 52 points and posting an astounding 56.7 percent from the field, including shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs improved defensively in the second half as well, outrebounding the Lancers 20-17 and racking up 5 steals after the break.
Twenty-one points from Ahmad Thomas and 20 points from Dwayne Sutton led the way for the Bulldogs. All five starters for the Bulldogs reached double figures in scoring, and the home side shot 52.5 percent from the field.
“We had a really big commitment on Dylan Smith, and I thought we did a decent job on him, but we let Thomas really hurt us around the basket,” said Gee on the official Longwood athletics website.
A pair of 19 point performances from redshirt senior guard Tra’Vaughn White and center Lotanna Nwogbo, who also collected eight rebounds, were not enough to offset the Bulldogs’ onslaught.
Though the Lancers had a solid offensive performance, their defense was lacking. They were unable to maintain the same intensity into the second half, and as the team ran out of steam, the defense suffered.
“I thought our guys in the last six minutes of the game were just completely gassed,” Gee said on the official Longwood athletics website. “We were just unable to defend the way we needed to defend to win this game.”
The team hopes to have Johnson ready for their next matchup at home against Campbell University on Feb. 3. They will look to end their four-game losing streak against the Camels, who have an 8-13 record, and sit at the bottom of the conference standings.
Senior guard Tra'Vaughn White alongside redshirt-senior center Lotanna Nwogbo carried most of Longwood's points during their loss to UNC-Asheville.
