FARMVILLE, Va. – New year, new you.
 
For Longwood men's basketball, the theme for 2018 has been exactly that.

Sparked by a pair of 20-point performances from B.K. Ashe and Isaiah Walton, the resurgent Lancers (6-13, 3-3 Big South) won for the third time in the past four games by taking down red-hot Campbell 76-62 Monday night in Willett Hall.

Ashe went off for 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, and Walton finished with 27 points for his team-leading sixth 20-point game of the season to snap Campbell's three-game winning streak and move the Lancers into a tie for fourth place in the Big South.

Along with the offensive eruptions from those two, the new-look Lancers shut down the Big South's top offense, as Campbell (9-9, 3-3 Big South) entered the night leading the conference in scoring and field goal percentage but set season lows in both categories.
 
"This is the best offensive team in the league, and we held them to 33 percent," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee. "I tell you, that says a lot about our defense. It was terrific. B.K. Ashe was playing great defense. Chuck Glover did a great job. [Chris] Clemons got 28, but he had to work for it. Nobody stops him from scoring, but I thought we made him work for it. I was extremely proud for our team defense."
 
Clemons, the Big South's leading scorer and reigning Player of the Year, scored a game-high 28 points but shot 7-of-18 from the floor against a Longwood defense that just three days prior held Liberty to just 51 points in a 58-51 victory on the road. Monday night, Longwood held the Camels to .339 (20-of-59) shooting from the field and .172 (5-of-29) from three-point range, both season lows for Longwood Division I opponents this season.
 
Longwood led for the game's final 23:23 and did not allow Campbell to score more than five consecutive points at any point in the second half.
 

Fast and physical -- that's how Longwood's doing it tonight, as Damarion Geter rips it away and finds BK Ashe down the court for another dunk! Lancers lead Campbell 51-37 w/ 11:19 to play! #GoWood pic.twitter.com/ApbwiGrfGk

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) January 16, 2018

 
Now winners of three of their past four games, the resurrected Lancers bear little resemblance to the 2017 version of themselves that limped to the end of an injury-riddled first half of the season with a 3-12 record. Over the past four games, the now-healthy Lancers have stunned Big South contenders Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Liberty to climb from the bottom of the conference standings into a tie for fourth place.
 
"To be honest, it's not a surprise," said junior forward Spencer Franklin, who contributed seven points and four hard-won rebounds off the bench Monday. "I feel like it is to other people, but we've known we could do this. It was just a matter of time for us to put it together and start winning. We had to find out how to do it, and once we found that out, we've been fine."
 

SPEEEEEEEENCE!!! Spencer Franklin comes out of the break and muscles in back-to-back buckets. Longwood leads Campbell 41-33 w/ 15:59 to play! #GoWood pic.twitter.com/tJsO4Pm8A8

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) January 16, 2018

 
Even more impressive – or bewildering for those outside Longwood's locker room, according to Franklin – is that Longwood's recent run of success has come during a grueling stretch through conference play.
 
Over the past four games, the Lancers have faced four consecutive teams who were picked to finish in the conference's top five in the Big South preseason poll. The only one of those to defeat the Lancers was preseason No. 1 UNC Asheville, who fought off Longwood's highest-scoring effort against a Division I opponent this season, 90-80, on Jan. 9.
 
Longwood's improvements during the turnaround have been widespread, and Monday's game was no exception. Longwood won the rebounding battle 45-36, committed just 12 turnovers and did not give up a single second-chance point all night.

Damarion Geter led the effort in the paint, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds, 10 of which were in the second half, and the majority at rim-level. He also chipped in four steals and four assists across 35 minutes, impacting the game well beyond his two points.
 

Great look from Isaiah Walton to find Damarion Geter under the hoop late in the first half! Walton has 11 points & 2 assists to keep Longwood on top of Campbell 31-27. pic.twitter.com/MUKYCacbCA

— Longwood Men's BB (@LongwoodMBB) January 16, 2018

 
"This is a really good win for us tonight," Gee said. "You think about Liberty, you think about Gardner-Webb, you think about now Campbell. Those are three of the higher-predicted teams in the league. We're showing the Lancer faithful what we're capable of doing."
 
Now trailing only first-place Radford (12-7, 5-1 Big South) and second-place Gardner-Webb (9-10, 4-2) and UNC Asheville (11-8, 4-2), Longwood is set for a high-stakes rivalry showdown at Radford this Thursday, Jan. 18. The Highlanders are off to a 5-1 start in Big South play after knocking off Liberty 59-57 in overtime Monday night.
 
#GoWood