HIGH POINT, N.C. – A week had barely elapsed since
Longwood almost cleared away a 22-point deficit at Gardner-Webb. The Runnin’
Bulldogs drew a foul with 1.4 seconds remaining and hit all three free throws
to defeat the Lancers in a nationally televised tilt, leading Longwood coach
Griff Aldrich to note that his side needed to figure out who it wanted to be
between its first-half and second-half efforts.
If the last two games are the answer, Aldrich should have
many fewer questions.
After beating league champ High Point, 74-72, on a runner
from Walyn Napper, the Lancers escaped the league’s play-in game and ended up
as the fifth seed opposite a familiar foe in fourth-seeded Winthrop.
“This team has been a fun one to coach in many ways,”
Aldrich said after the game. “In many ways, it’s also been really challenging,
because like so many, we battle inconsistency. I think, coming into March, we’re
playing some of our best basketball. We’ve always been a talented team, but we
haven’t always been able to put it together in a competitive manner.”
Aldrich gave his players much of the credit for the surge,
including guard Walyn Napper, who joined him and guard John-John Massie after
the contest.
“That’s a huge credit to Walyn and (guard) D.A. (Houston) in
particular,” Aldrich said. “They have led our commitment to punching and
continuing to fight. Tonight – they’ll probably tell you – I didn’t love how we
started the game. I didn’t think it was a high-urgency, tournament-level game.”
“One of the great things of any good basketball team is
resilience. Being able to be down a little bit in the first half and being able
to, number one, acknowledge that we’re not doing that we need to do and
respond.”
Napper spoke of the change in mindset after the game.
“Our problem sometimes throughout the year was (not)
starting fast and being the aggressor,” Napper said. “The past three weeks, we
have been working harder in practice. In the Gardner-Webb game, we came out
slow, but the second half was us. That has been us the past three weeks. Credit
to (Aldrich) for continuing to push us. We’ve just pushed the younger guys to
come out and be their best, no matter what happens.”
“Adversity comes. I think adversity hit us tonight. We
responded well and came out with the victory.”
Massie added to Napper’s thoughts.
“Whenever we play with a chip (on our shoulder) and whenever
we’re connected, it’s hard to beat us,” Massie said. “We have great players –
it could be anybody’s day. When you’re committed to winning, you’ll do anything
that’s needed to get the job done, and I think that’s what we all did when we
flipped the switch today.”
Napper may have flipped the biggest switch of all. The
senior splashed home a three that with 6:10 remaining that gave the Lancers a
six-point lead. Winthrop would cut into that lead just once more – by one point
– the rest of the night.
“In the first half, I was struggling a little bit from the
field,” Napper said. “(Assistant) coach Ronnie (Thomas) came up to me in the
tunnel and told me to be ready to shoot, step into it, and get your legs up under
the shot. When the ball came my way, I saw the shot clock was low. I shot it
with confidence. When I hit it, I just knew from that moment that it was going
to be our game.”
Winthrop experienced a much earlier exit from the tournament
than it hoped. The Eagles won an overtime contest with the Lancers in Rock
Hill, before falling by 10 in Farmville later in the season.
“That was obviously not the conversation we were planning to
have going in (to the game),” Prosser said. “It’s happening too much in our
program over the last couple years, to have such a short stay in this
tournament. They made the game-winning plays that decided that game. We tip our
cap to them.”
The game marks the final performance in garnet and gold for
a number of decorated Winthrop stars, including forward Micheal Anumba, Kelton
Talford, and Chase Claxton.
“When that happens at this time of year, it’s abrupt. When
the season ends, it ends extremely abruptly,” Prosser said. “For our kids that
wore that jersey for the last time, they deserved better. We’ll make sure that
we’re working to not have this feeling that we’ve had the last two years again
in the future. There were some unbelievable efforts, some unbelievable
performances, and some unbelievable careers in that jersey that right now we’ll
celebrate, and we’ll worry about moving forward after that.”
Winthrop managed to get to the line just seven times in the
contest, a stark contrast from the 81 combined trips the Eagles made to the stripe
against the Lancers in two regular-season outings.
“I’m floored that we only shot seven free throws. We lead
the country in free throw attempts. We shot two in the second half,” Prosser
said. “That’s unique to our season. It was a physical game, as March always is,
and we try to prepare our guys for that, but that’s certainly low. Kelton Talford
not shooting any is – that doesn’t happen very often, either.”
Prosser also mentioned Anumba, Talford, and Claxton’s
commitment to the program.
“We have a lot of very loyal guys on our roster. In a –
sometimes in college athletics now, you don’t see that a ton. Mike, Chase -- and
really KT, I think -- have had three opportunities from a coaching change and
two other opportunities and offseasons to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to take a look
at something different’ – and maybe, in the world in which we live now,
something that is more lucrative.”
“Their loyalty to our program, to each other, to their
teammates, and to Winthrop says a lot about who they are as people. We will
miss that. It sounds cliché, but I’m just honored to have been a part of it
with them, and they deserved better today.”
Winthrop finishes its season at 17-15. Longwood advances to
Saturday’s first semifinal outing, where it will battle top-seeded High
Point at noon. Streaming coverage will be available over ESPN+.
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