FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood came out on the wrong end of a wild one in overtime, but the Lancers regained their identity in the process.
 
In a game that featured 10 lead changes, a 10-point Longwood comeback in the final two minutes of regulation, and a game-tying, buzzer-beating three-pointer by Shabooty Phillips, the Runnin' Bulldogs (15-9, 5-4 Big South) did just enough in overtime to survive the recharged Lancers 89-88 Thursday evening in Willett Hall.
 
Justin Jenkins played hero for Gardner-Webb off the bench, scoring on a go-ahead putback layup with seven seconds left to spoil a comeback bid that saw Longwood (13-13, 3-8 Big South) erase a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation and force overtime on Phillips' game-tying three-pointer with nine seconds left.
 
That trey sent the game to the extra period where Longwood and Gardner-Webb traded the lead eight times before Jenkins' putback, on the second of back-to-back offensive boards, put the Bulldogs ahead for good. After a furious final seven seconds that saw Longwood earn an extra chance at the comeback after a Gardner-Webb technical foul, Phillips' second attempt at a buzzer-beating three-pointer skipped off the rim to end the game.
 
"This was a team that competed tonight, it was a team that battled and a team that attacked," Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich said. "I'm very proud of the guys. Did we play perfect? No, but we're never going to play perfect. But did we play well enough to win? Yeah."
 
The win was the third straight for Gardner-Webb and kept them squarely in the crowded middle of the Big South standings. It was the second straight overtime game for the Runnin' Bulldogs, who rode a pair of 20-point performances from leading scorers David Efianayi and Jose Perez to outlast six Longwood double-digit scorers Thursday night.
 
But despite the contributions of Efianayi and Perez, Thursday's game was decided during a wild sequence in the final seven seconds that featured five possessions, a technical foul that handed the Lancers another opportunity to win the game, and a full-court connection from Jordan Cintron to Phillips that ultimately ended with the missed three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
After Jenkins' go-ahead layup put Gardner-Webb up 87-86 with seven seconds to play, Phillips came up short on a contested layup on Longwood's next possession. Gardner-Webb turned the miss into a fast-break dunk by Eric Jamison that extended the lead to 89-86, but Gardner-Webb freshman Jose Perez was called for a technical foul for taunting the crowd during the play.
 
The tech awarded Longwood two free throws and the ball with 2.2 seconds to play. Phillips knocked down both of those to close the deficit to 89-88. Jordan Cintron then in-bounded the ball from Longwood's endzone to half court to Phillips, who dribbled several steps, pump-faked his defender near the three-point line and then unfurled a last-second heave that skipped off the left side of the rim and ended the game.
 
"In the locker room afterwards the guys were obviously upset, but I told them we took a step forward tonight," Aldrich said. "That was a nice offensive performance by our team. I think we can easily shore up the defensive miscues and be even more competitive.
 
"We talk about paint touches and ball movement, and we exceeded both significantly. I thought the guys did really well. There was a stretch in the second half where there was a lull, but we got some really good ball screens that were organic out of the offense that really helped. We were also able to throw it into the post and see Spencer [Franklin] and [Damarion] Geter get some buckets down there out of the post."
 
The 88 points were Longwood's second most in a Big South game, their fourth most all season and featured double-digit efforts from a season-high six players. Junior guard Jaylon Wilson scored a career-high 19 and opened the game 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from three-point range. Phillips and Franklin added 10 points apiece, JaShaun Smith scored 14, Cintron netted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Juan Munoz scored 13 over a career-high 31 minutes off the bench.
 
Longwood hit 14 three-pointers – including four each by Wilson and Smith and three by Munoz – and won the rebounding battle 40-37, thanks in part to Cintron's 10 rebounds, six of which were on the offensive glass.
 
However, Gardner-Webb countered that team-wide production with an efficient performance inside the perimeter, outscoring Longwood 40-26 in the paint, shooting .583 (21-of-36) on two-pointers and knocking down 20-of-26 free throws. Along with Efianayi's 26 and Perez's 24, forward DJ Laster poured in 12 points, and Jenkins finished with eight off the bench.
 
"Unfortunately we had a few lapses," Aldrich said. "We started out the second half very casual, and they go on a 6-0 run. We weren't ready to play. That's a problem. You can't give up six points while you're trying to quote-unquote 'rev up your engine.' You have to play, and you have to be ready to play."
 
The narrow loss came in Longwood's first overtime game under Aldrich and moved to put the Lancers back on the right track after they entered the game on a three-game losing streak that came at the end of a compacted first half of the Big South schedule. The Lancers, whose four-game losing streak is their longest this season, fall to .500 for the first time under Aldrich.
 
"The margin for error for us is too small," he said. "We can't give up possessions. Every possession must matter for Longwood. As you see, in a game like this, every single small possession matters – we missed layups, we don't drop down on penetration when our bigs go to help, and that's a problem."
 
Now just five games remain for Longwood in the regular season, beginning with a road trip to High Point next Wednesday, Feb. 13. Longwood will then return home to host USC Upstate during the program's alumni day on Saturday, Feb. 16.
 
#GoWood