MBB: Eagles overcome early Lancer lead, soar to victory
| Contributor | Stephanie Roberts
This past Sunday, Jan. 24, Longwood men’s basketball played the Winthrop Eagles at home at Willett Hall, making it their first conference home game for the Lancers with students on campus. Ending in an 82–68 loss, the result left their conference record as 2–6.
The Lancers started strong as they came out of the gate with energy. Within the first two minutes of the first half, they scored two three-pointers and had a three-point play. Combined, it put Longwood up 9–2 early.
Continuing to score, the Lancers held a 10 point lead against Winthrop less than five minutes into the half, making the score 16–6.
It wasn’t until after the first media time out of the game that the momentum shifted away from Longwood and to Winthrop, and by the next one, the Eagles closed the gap and took a 20–19 lead.
“I think our guys are ready to play. Their attitudes, their mindsets, their buy-in, that’s all there,” said men’s basketball head coach Jayson Gee on the Longwood athletics official website. “We’re just dealing with the reality of bodies in where we are right now. The inability to sustain that tonight had something to do with that, and the fact that you’re playing a really good team.”
Winthrop’s sophomore guard Xavier Cooks was one of the main contributors to Winthrop’s takeover, shooting 8-of-15 from the field plus a free throw totaling 19 points.
Once Winthrop gained momentum, Longwood had trouble keeping them from pulling ahead. At the half the Eagles were up 48–32 against the Lancers.
The Lancers had multiple unforced turnovers throughout the second half, which put them in too deep of a hole to make a comeback. At the first media timeout of the second half, Longwood trailed 17 points to Winthrop and struggled to finish their shots, sinking 9-of-29 (.310) from the field.
Red shirt senior center/forward Lotanna Nwogbo, normally a key player on the court, was held back due to his three fouls in the first half causing him to be subbed early. This impacted Longwood’s offense and defense as he is normally a large contributor.
“I thought a major key to the game was when Lotanna went out early. It really redirected some things. I thought initially our guys responded to it but were just unable to sustain that high level of play you need to play with a really good team like that,” said Gee on the Longwood athletics official website.
In his stead, Longwood’s sophomore guard Kanayo Obi-Rapu Jr. sank over half his threes (.571) in an effort to decrease Winthrop’s lead. Obi-Rapu ended with a game-high of 20 points — his third 20-point game of the season, but first one since coming back from being injured.
“We need him to do that, and we need him to do that consistently,” said Gee on the Longwood athletics official website. “We’ve been communicating that to him, letting him know that and that he can’t get too down on himself. That player that was there at the beginning of the year is still here.”
Obi-Rapu’s efforts fell flat as the final buzzer sounded and the Eagles won by a 14-point margin.
The Lancers play again on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at home in Willet Hall against No. Radford at 7 p.m.
