FARMVILLE, Va. —There were bruises. There were whistles. There was even some blood from the nose of KJ McClurg.
In an intensely physical matchup, the Longwood Lancers out-muscled the visiting Milwaukee Panthers, 76-62, to stay undefeated on the young season.
At times the Lancers and visiting Panthers—who were ranked in the preseason CollegeInsider.com mid-major top-25 poll—looked like NFL Films footage of the Vikings and Packers of old: bruising and banging to establish their physical presence.
Time after time, it was senior forward Johan Nziemi—shoulders as wide as a Mack truck—who won the battle inside, grabbing rebounds and scoring a game- and career-high 16 points, most of them at the charity strip after hard-won foul calls.
“I was really pleased with the team tonight,” said head coach Griff Aldrich. “Milwaukee is a big, strong, physical team, and I thought our guys handled that challenge very well. When we faced adversity, especially when they got points off offensive rebounds, they battled back with resiliency.”
Redshirt junior forward Elijah Tucker poured in 14 points, while speedy point guard Kyrell Luc was seemingly everywhere, doing everything all the time, adding seven boards and four assists to go with his six points.
“We took another big step tonight,” said Aldrich. “This is the first time this season where we really looked like Longwood basketball, and the exciting thing is that there’s a lot to clean up. We beat a really good team that is very well coached, who are physical and tough. To go toe-to-toe with them and come out with a win was really great to see.”
The first half started with a steal and a pass and a jam, just like they used to cook up back on the ranch. McClurg’s hands got involved early, intercepting a pass that he quickly passed up the court to Colby Garland, who found Tucker in the sky for a two-handed slam.
That play set the tone. Hardly a possession went by that didn’t start with Luc, Garland, or McClurg sprinting up the floor with the ball. And when the Lancers are sprinting and moving, the Lancers are often winning.
Milwaukee found a way to stop the momentum with physical play, and the game alternated between fast-break and foul-call.
Milwaukee took a brief lead at 9-8, but a Michael Christmas steal and a fast-break give-and-go with Garland led to two more, and the Lancers never looked back.
More often than not, Luc’s legs set the tone. The faster he goes, the faster everyone else plays.
Case in point, with 5:45 left in the first half, Michael Christmas stole an errant pass and shoveled the ball to Luc, who drove into the lane with speed rare in these parts, drawing the defense to the left side of the bucket. Without looking, he whipped a behind-the-back pass to Elijah Tucker, who laid it in for an easy two points.
The Lancers are at their best when they are flying around like shoppers on Black Friday looking for half-price television sets. They are at their worst when they stand around like it’s the first day of pumpkin-spice season at Starbucks.
They were at their best after halftime.
Milwaukee came out of the gates with purpose, tallying two quick steals, but the second didn’t end the way they hoped.
Panthers forward Aaron Franklin stepped in front of a pass with 13:45 left in the half and was headed for a fast-break tomahawk that never came. Nziemi—fleeter be he than dappled dreams—found a burst of speed and a burst of bounce, blocking the dunk from behind.
The crowd? They went appropriately nuts.
Rinse and repeat.
Just before the under-12 minute media timeout, 5-foot-11-inch Kyrell Luc got them out of the blue seats at JPB again, with a steal and a high-flying dunk that rattled the rim.
Five minutes later, after two missed Panther free throws that earned Longwood students free BoBerry Biscuits at the Farmville Bojangles, Garland found Tucker for another alley-oop that left the rim rattling.
On the next possession, four quick passes left DJ Jefferson, a transfer forward from the University of Tennessee, wide open from the left corner. Cash. Money.
That was enough for the Lancers, who never looked back en route to a 14-point win.
The Lancers finish their season-opening four-game homestand on Saturday against the visiting Skyhawks of UT-Martin. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
#GoWood #HorsePower
