Longwood Wins Big South Tournament, Punching Second Ticket to the NCAA Tournament
The Longwood Lancers defeated the UNC Asheville Bulldogs by a score of 85-59 to win the Big South Conference Championship game on Sunday and be the second team, behind the Ohio Valley Champion Morehead State Eagles last night, to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Lancers got off to a scorching 22-6 start in this one and never ended up trailing again in the game after UNC Asheville scored the first bucket. The Bulldogs were unable to ever cut Longwood’s lead down to anything less than 13 points in the first half as they trailed the Lancers 42-24 at halftime.
Longwood simply just looked to be the more prepared team in this game as their lead only continued to grow in the second half. By the time there were ten minutes left in regulation they had extended their lead to 25 points as they were up 65-40 in a game that was practically over, as they ended up bringing home this year's Big South Conference trophy on their conference opponent High Point Panthers home Qubein Arena floor in High Point, NC. Senior forward Michael Christmas and junior center Szymon Zapala led the way for the Lancers with 18 points and 17 points, respectively, as they were able to send the Bulldogs and Big South Conference Player of the Year forward Drew Pember home earlier than expected.
Longwood will likely be a 15 seed in the NCAA tournament this year and yes, they will likely have an extremely tough opponent on their hands come Selection Sunday. However, they can take comfort in the fact they could not have more experienced players on their roster for the challenge being that the youngest starter on their team is a junior and they have multiple players who have made it to the Big Dance before. The Lancers' most recent first-ever NCAA tournament appearance came in 2022, where they were a 14 seed and lost in the first round to Tennessee. The Lancers will hope to win their first NCAA tournament game in school history this year but even if that dream does not come true, they cannot hang their heads even the littlest bit. Going into this year's Big South Conference Tournament they were the fifth seed and while no one expected them to come out as Champions that is exactly what happened as they defeated the two best teams in the conference, the High Point Panthers and UNC Asheville Bulldogs, on their way to March Madness.
