In their previous two seasons, Longwood men's basketball has combined for a total of 13 wins, including one postseason win. The script has been completely flipped this year under first-year Head Coach Griff Aldrich, as his Lancers have made an incredible turnaround with their 13-13 record with a month to play.
However, their winning ways from December to early January have slowed, dropping six of their last seven games, falling to 3-8 in conference play.
Spencer Franklin thus far has made an impact on both ends of the floor, cleaning up the glass as well with 3.7 rebounds per game.
And to cap off a week they’d wish to forget, the team’s leading scorer redshirt senior guard, Isaiah Walton, was dismissed from the program just a day after Aldrich implemented an indefinite suspension due to “failure to meet team expectations”. Walton averaged 17.8 points-per-game and had just become the 17th player in Longwood men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points.
With the first week of February in the rear-view mirror, the Lancers face the challenge of rebounding in hopes of putting themselves in the position of hosting a Big South tournament game in early March.
Despite difficult losses, Aldrich told the team following their defeat to Hampton he was “proud of them” for continuing to fight even when down by as many as 23 points.
“They could’ve quit,” Aldrich said. “But they continued to battle really until the end. But we made too many mental mistakes, and we didn’t compete at the level we needed to compete at.”
Head coach Griff Aldrich continues his historic first season, winning 6 more games than the team did last year still with five games remaining in the regular season.
He noted basketball is a game of runs. The Lancers went on a run and pulled within as little as four points against Hampton, but the Big South newcomers halted their momentum with a run of their own, putting the game out of reach. Although Aldrich knows they don't lose fight, they need to figure out a way to stop hot-shooting teams.
“We need to stop their run, and the way you stop their run is you focus on your fundamentals, but then you increase your focus and effort,” Aldrich said. “You have to make them more uncomfortable shooting the basketball.”
And on Thursday night, Longwood conducted an improbable comeback to send a game against Gardner-Webb - who beat two ACC opponents earlier this season - to overtime. Although they came out on the opposite end, it left fans leaving Willett Hall in awe.
In games against Charleston Southern and Hampton, where they allowed 101 and 96 points, respectively, the Lancers didn’t disappoint with their scoring output despite the losses. Scoring 91 and 83 points in each game, the team knows with an off night on one side of the ball, they put themselves in jeopardy no matter the scoring output.
Jashaun Smith has been a key part of Aldrich's offense, averaging 10.6 points-per-game thus far.
“It all comes down to defense,” junior guard JaShaun Smith said. “We can score as much as we want but if we can’t get a stop in key times, we’re going to lose.”
Aldrich said, “At some point you have to inflict your will on the opponent. It’s like a tug-of-war. They’re pulling hard, and you can’t just use the same amount of effort, you have to increase your level of effort and strength to combat the tie.”
The men's basketball team seeks to continue their historic season with five games remaining, drawing larger crowds than they have seen in previous years. They travel to High Point on Wednesday, then have a home clash against USC Upstate next Saturday.
JaShaun Smith has been a staple of Aldrich's offense, averaging 10.8 points-per-game thus far with five games remaining, plus the Big South tournament.
Damarion Geter ranks in the top five all-time in blocks, surpassing 100 earlier this month.
