Lancers Drop to 0–2 in the Big South
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Can Mike Gillian’s squad rebound from another rough loss Wednesday? (Photo: AP)[/caption]
Longwood dropped their sixth straight game and second straight conference game on Wednesday losing to the Campbell Camels 83–73. Longwood has faltered down the stretch in their last three games at home with questionable decision making on and off the court. The last three games were all winnable in the second half but the Lancers simply have not executed at the level needed and have not been able to get over the hump (Camel pun not intended).
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Both teams went into the locker room tied at 32 at halftime. Campbell adjusted well to the Lancers and came out on a 24–13 run to open up the second half. The Camels were primarily killing the Lancers inside and no adjustments, like a 2–3 zone, were made throughout the game. Longwood stuck to strict man-to-man defense despite Campbell only taking two three pointers in the first half and five total on the night. In the end, five Camels finished in double-figures lead by sophomore guard Trey Freeman from Virginia Beach. Freeman had a double-double with 19 points, 10 assists 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Campbell’s best player and the Big South’s leading scorer Darren White was declared out for the game before tip-off with a re-aggravated knee injury from the Gardner-Webb game Saturday.
The biggest positive for Longwood was Tristan Carey who had 23 points and 6 rebounds on the evening. Carey has reverted back to slashing to the basket more, which is a good sign for the Lancers. He also had a good game from beyond the arch hitting 4 threes on the night. Jeylani Dublin and Karl Ziegler were the only other Lancers in double figures on the night, Dublin had 12 while Ziegler had 11 points. The Lancers have also vastly improved in taking care of the basketball. Early in the season Longwood was turning over the ball 20+ times per game and last night there were just 11 turnovers.
The biggest negative from this game was a second half injury to David Robinson. Robinson seemed to turn his ankle and did not return to the game. He was grabbing high up on his ankle, which could indicate a high ankle sprain and perhaps a season ending injury (PURE SPECULATION). Other negatives were one of Michael Kessens roughest performances of the year and Nik Brown continuing to struggle from the field. Brown was just 3 for 14 from the field in this one and is now shooting 32% from the floor for the year. If you’re keeping track of the point guard usage at home, Brown received 32 minutes on the floor last night while Lucas Woodhouse had 18. Woodhouse 3 points and 4 assists in his brief stint on the floor.
Another standout moment in this one had to be Mike Gillian ripping off his tie and going absolutely nuts after a controversial no-call with about a minute left on a goaltend. Gillian was very vocal with the refs and even used his final timeout to continue the tirade. Since a run-in with Shaka Smart at VCU four games ago, Gillian seems to be averaging one of these instances per game. Be your own judge…
From here Longwood will look to salvage one win from what looked to be a promising four game homestand about a week and half ago. It will be a tough task for the Lancers who are welcoming the South Division favorite Charleston Southern Buccaneers to Farmville for the ESPN3 Big South Game of the Week. The Bucs are 7–6 on the year and 2–0 in the conference after defeating Winthrop 75–63 last night in Charleston
