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FARMVILLE, Va. – Just hours before the ball was set
to drop a few hours north of this Virginia town, the ball frequently dropped
through the net for Longwood to close out 2025 with a big win over its rival.
Longwood shot 51.7 percent from the floor and limited Winthrop
to just over 32 percent from the field and 20 percent from three, giving the
Lancers an 82-70 win over the Eagles in the Big South lid-lifter at the Joan
Perry Brock Center.
You know what happened – now let’s go…Inside the Numbers!
- Winthrop center Logan Duncomb logged his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 31 points and boarding 13 misses. Duncomb missed just four times in 16 tries from the field and four more times in 11 free throw attempts, serving as the focal point of the Winthrop offense.
“We knew Duncomb was their leading scorer and he was going to get his,” Longwood forward Elijah Tucker said. We really just didn’t want them to make threes. We were closing out and trying to run them off the three-point line as best we could.”
Winthrop shot 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from three.
“That guy (Duncomb) can score 30 and (grab) 20 (rebounds), but I don’t know if he’ll beat us unless they’re making threes,” Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas said after the game. “We actually lost (the ability to defend the gaps) a little bit late. I thought he got in (the paint) and we went down there and tried to double when we shouldn’t have, and we gave up two of their (kick-out) threes. I thought we did a good job of making him work for (his point total).”
- Along a similar line, the stat of the day came from the Winthrop side.
All of the Winthrop shooters not named Logan Duncomb combined to shoot 17.4 percent (8-for-46). Guards Daylen Berry and Kareem Rozier shot a combined 4-for-23 – also 17.4 percent – and 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Winthrop made just eight field goals in the first half.
“That’s not going to get it done anywhere,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said after the game. “We have to show the ability to listen, to pay attention, and to carry over. They’re a team that floods to help. We can’t go to the paint and play off one foot and then shoot a reach-out layup at the rim. It’s a drop-off game. It’s a spray game. You get better looks that way.”
“We didn’t carry over the things that we talked about, and they did a good job of taking advantage of mismatches. It’s not as though we didn’t know that was coming. We didn’t handle it well.”
- Longwood got great energy – and 34 points – from its bench. Redd Thompson led the Lancers with 15 points in reserve duty, while guard Jaylen Benard had a dazzling bucket on a baseline lob after a timeout and a key three. Forward Elijah Jones also added seven boards and three blocks in 18 minutes of play.
“I think our depth is great,” Thomas said. “I think we’re 19th in the country in bench points. That’s not by any design – it’s just that those guys are working really hard. I trust all five of those guys. They’re special.”
- Winthrop showed signs of fatigue after a tough loss at Texas Tech Sunday afternoon. Prosser voiced his concern about that response.
“I’m really disappointed in the league, that this is the understanding that we represented our school and our league on national television on TNT for two hours on Sunday, and you’d hope that this would not be the first (Big South) game, but of course -- our kids, you know, maybe I don't know. It’s certainly not an excuse, but, you know, maybe that plays into being 5-for-24 from three, just a fatigue level, but it is what it We couldn't change it then. We can't change it now.”
“We’ve got to make sure we fix it. We better fix it quickly, because we’ve got to turn this thing around.”
- Longwood and Winthrop came into the game with identical 8-7 records after being picked to finish near each other in the Big South media preseason poll. How much does Longwood feel it is being slept on?
“I feel like we did it to ourselves, really,” Tucker said. “We were pretty inconsistent in non-conference play, and I think that’s what we’re trying to change. I feel like the start of this conference season by beating Winthrop in the first game and, you know, proving to everybody that we do play together and we do play hard -- the league should be on notice now.”
- The win was the first for Thomas as a head coach in Big South play. Tucker was almost happier for Thomas than the Lancer boss was for himself.
“I’m proud of Ronnie. Ronnie’s my guy,” Tucker said. “There’s no one I would rather play for. I love Coach Ronnie. He’s the one who got me here. He’s the one who believed in me. I’ll do anything for him.”
Thomas saw the significance of the win, and especially that it came against Winthrop.
“When I came into the league, Pat Kelsey was the (Winthrop) head coach, and (former guard) Chandler Vaudrin and those guys ran through the league,” Thomas said. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is the class of the Big South.’ Then Prosser took over for Kelsey and right away, they were 14-2 (in the league).”
“I think it’s always a test of who we are, and that’s what Winthrop’s been in the Big South. They’re great for our league. To come in and do (this) – especially the way they owned us last year when we got our tails kicked three times, and it wasn’t close and wasn’t pretty – it was a great test for us to see where we are and where we stand.”
- Prosser closed with some strong words for his team.
“It’s a long season, but we’ve got to start being the team that we thought we were,” Prosser said. “We have talented guys. I think that if you look across our guard play today, our starting guards – their numbers were atypical. We’ve just got to make sure we’re getting high-quality looks. We have to do a better job of touching the paint and making decisions.”
“Sometimes, the decision is you. Sometimes, that’s what the game tells you to do. The game tells you to finish. You’ve got to go finish.”
Duncomb’s 31 led all scorers. No other Eagles finished in
double figures. Winthrop shot 32.3 percent (20-for-62) from the field and
5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from distance. The Eagles knocked down 25-of-32 tries
from the line (78.1 percent).
Tucker was one of four Lancers in doubles. Thompson led
Longwood with 15 points off the bench on 5-for-10 shooting. Guard Jacoi
Hutchinson added 14 on 5-for-9 from the field. Tucker and Benard added 12
apiece. Longwood shot 51.7 percent (30-for-58) from the field and 38.9 percent
(7[of-18) from distance. The Lancers knocked down 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) from
the stripe.
Next up:
Winthrop returns home to square off with Gardner-Webb at Winthrop
Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C. Game time Saturday is set for 4:00 (Eastern), with
coverage over ESPN+. Longwood travels to High Point’s Qubein Center to take on
the defending champion Panthers. Tip time is 2:00, with streaming over ESPN+.
Hustle Stats:
Points off turnovers:
Longwood 16, Winthrop 10
Points in the paint:
Longwood 44, Winthrop 30
Second-chance points:
Longwood 16, Winthrop 13
Fast-break points:
Longwood 6, Winthrop 2
Bench points: Longwood
34, Winthrop 17
LONGWOOD 82, WINTHROP 70
WINTHROP (8-8)
Clouet 0-4 2-2 2, Kamarad 0-4 5-6 5, Rozier 3-11 0-0 8,
Duncomb 12-16 7-11 31, Berry 1-12 5-5 7, Wilson 0-3 2-2 2, Nnamoko 0-1 0-2 0,
Hendawy 1-4 4-4 6, Meo 2-4 0-0 6, Boyogueno 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 20-62 25-31 70.
LONGWOOD (9-7)
Nziemi 3-6 3-6 9, Hutchinson 5-9 4-4 14, Billups 2-4 1-2 7,
Richards 3-4 0-0 6, Tucker 5-10 2-2 12, Payne 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 5-10 3-3 15,
Jones 1-4 2-4 4, Benard 5-8 2-4 12, Kelly 1-3 0-0 3, Kalala 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-58
15-21 82.
Halftime: Longwood 38-29. 3-Point
goals: Longwood 7-18 (Hutchinson 0-2, Billups 2-4, Richards 0-1, Thompson
2-5, Benard 2-4, Kelly 1-2), Winthrop 5-24 (Clouet 0-4, Kamarad 0-1, Rozier
2-6, Berry 0-5, Wilson 0-1, Hendawy 0-1, Meo 2-3, Boyogueno 1-3). Fouled
out: NA. Rebounds: Longwood
41 (Nziemi/Tucker 9), Winthrop 35 (Duncomb 13). Total fouls: Longwood
28, Winthrop 17. Technicals: NA.
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