The Overtime Report: Lancers Respond
[caption id=”attachment_2866" align=”alignleft” width=”367"]
A common expression of Campbell Head Coach Kevin McGeehan during the 76–53 beat down.[/caption]
On Saturday night, in Buies Creek, NC, the Longwood Lancers dominated the Campbell Camels inside Gore Arena. I could probably find a more creative way to put it, but the simple fact was that Longwood had their way with Campbell for the majority of the game.
The only criticism is that Campbell ended the game on a 18–6 run over the final 4:28 which cut the 35 point Lancers lead to 23 (still the largest margin of victory for the Lancers squad vs a DI opponent). The end of the game run wasn’t like the Lancers stopped playing. They simply played with sportsmanship and tried not to extend the game by fouling shooters.
Other than the late run in the second half, the Lancers and Camels were pretty much even throughout. I was impressed that the young Longwood team played with a lead and continued to make baskets.
The most important thing to take from this road divisional game is that Longwood responded to a lot of criticism. I’ll be the first to admit that I was harsh toward the Lancers team that got embarrassed by Winthrop. What Longwood showed in the Campbell game is exactly why I was so frustrated. This team has the ability to be really good. As a whole, they aren’t the most talented guys in the conference but when they’re playing well, they play as a unit.
The team that showed up to Gore Arena Saturday night was not fragile. It wasn’t a team that looked intimidated. The moment wasn’t too big for this group. Coach Gee said that they went to see “Lone Survivor” as a team Friday night. Couple with the kick in the mouth that Winthrop delivered, maybe this is the wake up call that fans have been waiting for. Has this team taken the next step? Only time will tell. But for the moment, there’s a good vibe coming from this Jayson Gee coached team.
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Inconsistency has been the biggest downfall so far this season, but maybe Coach Gee has these guys seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Longwood is now 5th place in the North Division as they own the tiebreakers over Liberty. The future of Longwood hoops showed its face in Buies Creek last night and there’s not a fan or alum that wasn’t proud of the energy and effort that the Lancers showed last night. The product we saw last night is exactly what will take Longwood to the next level in years to come.
Tidbits:
I haven’t talked about P.A.C.E. in a while so i’ll use it as guidelines for my tidbits.
PRESSURE: The Lancers forced 19 turnovers (VCU transfer Reco McCarter had 6 alone). Leron Fisher had 4 steals followed by TT Carey with 3. The Lancers had 14 steals overall and scored 23 points off of the 19 turnovers. Also, there were numerous occasions where Longwood defenders deflected passes but were unable to gain possession of the ball.
ATTACK: If starting the game on an 11–0 run isn’t aggressive enough then i’m not sure what is. The Lancers did a great job of attacking the rim in the first half. The team pulled down 24 boards in the first half (9 offensive) and constantly pushed the ball down the court. Longwood never let up in the first half which was the reason they took a 46–13 lead into the half; it seemed like they never got complacent no matter how large of a lead they had.
COMPETE: The entire game serves as example for this. DJ Allen looked great in the first half and although he had several of his shots blocked, he continued to play hard and tried to help the team. I’ll throw in responding into this section. Again, the team was heavily criticized for effort this past week. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from them vs Campbell. They responded ina grand fashion.
ENERGIZE: From the opening tip (which seems like the first tip we have won all year), the team looked rejuvenated. The energy was there. Effort was overflowing. The confidence in this team was certainly evident. They played with a team first mentality and everyone seemed to feed off of one another. I don’t know what Jayson Gee said to these guys after the Winthrop loss, but man did it work. At least for this one game, this team looked focused and ready to play. They have certainly re-energized the fans and alumni for this final push to the tournament.
P.A.C.E. was definitely on full display last night and Jayson Gee proved, once again, that he is the real deal.
