Longwood men’s basketball were in action Wednesday, February 7 against the Spartans of USC Upstate. In a tight conference battle that swung in both directions in the second half, a late flurry of fouls committed by the Lancers, USC Upstate pulled away and won the game 69-64. This would just pile on the misery for a Lancer team that is now sitting in last place in the Big South Conference.
Following a tough road loss against Charleston Southern, Longwood men’s basketball returned home to right the ship against a struggling USC Upstate. The Lancers needed to find some form quickly, or challenging for the conference would be out of reach. The game started with a Longwood 8-2 run, and they would start to control the game with about 12 minutes left in the first half. Though, after a USC Upstate timeout the Spartans rushed back into the game and led the game by seven going into the half.
A good start was needed for the Lancers to get back into the game, and that’s exactly what occurred. Longwood took control for the first few minutes of the second half. The game from then on was completely neck-and-neck. Nerves were running high around the Joan Perry Brock Center as it seemed that one pivotal moment would change the game. That is exactly what happened when Longwood Head Coach Griff Aldrich was called for a technical foul with three minutes left in the game.
Longwood simply was not able to close out the game once again, after USC Upstate grabbed the final momentum swing of the game. The final score would go in the Spartans’ favor, 69-64. With this now being the fourth loss in a row for Longwood, eyebrows have been raised around the conference as to why this has been happening. Emanuel Richards, a Freshman who had 6 points, was one of the hardest working players for Longwood on Wednesday. “We just gotta execute in late-game situations like that. We missed a lot of free throws in the game that had us in this position in the first place,” Richards said.
Coach Aldrich and the Lancers will now have to dig even deeper if they want to turn the form around. “I told the guys, I was extremely proud. We’ve been saying for a while that we need to be more competitive, that we need to fight. I thought, for the most part, we had great competitive spirit tonight. The flip side of it is, it’s not enough just to play hard. You also have to execute. You can’t miss dunks. You can’t shoot 14-27 from the free throw line…This is the second game in a row we’ve shot poorly from the free throw line. That’s part of execution in these close games.” These quotes were provided to the Rotunda by Director of Athletics Communication Sam Hovan.
The Lancers now face a pivotal point of the season right before the Big South Conference Tournament, as the dream of cutting down the nets in High Point is slowly slipping away. If the Lancer men can get a couple more wins, then anything can happen come tournament time. For now, attention must rest on a home game against Winthrop on February 10.
