FARMVILLE, Va. – High Point deployed its top-three Big South defense and rode 22 points from
Jahaad Proctor to take down Longwood 75-55 Sunday afternoon at
Willett Hall.
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Behind a defense that entered the game leading the Big South and ranked among the top 15 in the nation in steals per game, High Point (10-9, 5-3 Big South) held Longwood to .370 percent shooting from the floor and .240 from three-point range. The win was High Point's third straight and kept the Panthers in a tie for third place in the Big South standings, half of a game behind second-place Gardner-Webb and one game behind first-place Radford.
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That performance allowed High Point to hold the Lancers (6-15, 3-5 Big South) to their lowest field goal percentage since Dec. 30, derailing a Longwood offense that had shot at least 40.6 percent in six straight games during which they went 3-3.
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"The first thing I said to our team is you have to give credit where credit's due," said Longwood head coach
Jayson Gee. "They came in and took us out of what we wanted to do. We tried to spread the floor and space them, and we weren't having much success with that. Their physicality and their versatility really bothered us on both ends of the floor."
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Longwood's woes on the offensive end carried over to the defensive end as well, as the Panthers shot .531 from the floor and .500 from three-point range, both among the two best marks by a Big South foe against Longwood's rejuvenated defense this season.
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Proctor led that charge with a game-high 22 points, sparking a charge from High Point's backcourt that saw guards Brandon
Kamga and Andre Fox also turn in double-digit scoring efforts with 16 and 11 points each. Those three combined for 28 points during a first half in which the Panthers built a 42-21 lead and use that cushion to hold off Longwood's bounce-back second half.
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"What I really challenged our guys in there was that some nights your offense isn't going to be there," Gee said. "So what do you need to do? You need to find a way to play defense. You have to raise your level of defense. Several occasions High Point drove us one-on-one, and we broke down. We had some guys out there that just didn't get it done defensively.
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"It didn't feel like we were prepared for what they brought, which is on me. I thought their ability to drive their ball and their ability to get to the rim when they wanted really made a difference."
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Proctor got 15 of his 22 points from three-point range, hitting 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. Kamga also knocked down both of his three-point attempts as the Panthers shot at least .455 from three-point range in both halves.
Longwood redshirt junior forward
Damarion Geter turned in his first career double-double, scoring 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. He stuffed the stat sheet with an assist, two blocks and a steal and grabbed three of his rebounds on the offensive end.
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Isaiah Walton also scored 14 points for Longwood, while
Charles Glover added 11.
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The loss snaps a two-game home win streak for the Lancers, who entered the game winners of five of their past seven games on their home floor. The Lancers will get another shot at protecting their home court this Wednesday, Jan. 24, against Winthrop at 7 p.m.
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