The Opening Tip
•   Longwood opens its milestone 10th Division I season Sunday with a home matchup against Maine in Willett Hall. The Lancers enter their fourth season under head coach
Jayson Gee, who took over prior to the 2013-14 season.
•   Longwood returns two starters and six letterwinners from last year's squad, including the quad-captain contingent of senior guards
Darrion Allen and
Isaac Belton, and redshirt junior forwards
Damarion Geter and
Khris Lane.
•   Allen returns as the Big South leader in three-point percentage after hitting 46.2 percent (54-of-117) of his shots from long range during a breakout junior season.
•   The Lancers are scheduled for four television appearances in 2016-17, including nationally aired games at Stephen F. Austin on ESPN2 and at Creighton on Fox Sports 1.
Last Time Out
•   Led by a backcourt that contributed 60 points, Longwood rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to force overtime and pull out a 93-85 win over Hampden-Sydney in the preseason exhibition on Nov. 5.
•   Senior
Darrion Allen poured in 24 points as one of five double-figure scorers for a Longwood team that closed regulation with a 17-7 run and won halftime with a 19-11 margin.
•   Guards
Isaiah Walton (16 points) and
Kendrick Thompson (12) scored in double figures, as did forwards
Khris Lane (15) and
Chris Shields (14).
•   In his Longwood debut, the UC Davis transfer Walton stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
•   Longwood forced Hampden-Sydney into 27 turnovers with 18 of those coming by steal. Both Allen & Walton had four steals apiece.
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By The Numbers
•   Longwood opens its milestone 10th season of the Division I era Sunday. The Lancers officially made that jump from the Division II level beginning in the 2007-08 season after a three-year transitional period that began in 2004-05. Longwood men's basketball competed at the Division II level for 24 years from 1980-2004 after a four-year stint at the Division III level from 1976-80.
•   The Lancers return just 33 percent of their scoring and one of their top five scorers from last season after the graduation of seniors
Lotanna Nwogbo (15.9 ppg.),
Tra'Vaughn White (13.4),
Shaquille Johnson (11.8) and
Leron Fisher (9.6) and the transfer of sophomore
Kanayo Obi-Rapu (12.0).
•   Senior guard
Darrion Allen is Longwood's top returning scorer from last season, averaging 10.4 points per game during a breakout junior campaign in which he posted 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Allen scored in double figures 17 times last year, including in eight of his final 10 games.
•   Allen led the Big South in three-point percentage last season, hitting 46.2 percent (54-of-117) of his shots from long range. That ranked as the third-highest three-point clip in school history and marked the second straight year a Longwood player led the conference in three-point percentage, following Quincy Taylor's .480 clip in 2014-15.
•   Longwood had five players score in double figures in the 93-85 preseason win against Hampden-Sydney, led by Allen's 24 points. The backcourt trio of Allen,
Isaiah Walton (16 points) and
Kendrick Thompson (12) combined for 52 of Longwood's 93 points.
•   Redshirt junior forward
Khris Lane is one of two returning starters from last season's squad, averaging 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his first season as a Lancer. The former Drexel transfer shot .509 (117-of-230) from the field and .375 (18-of-48) from three-point range.
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