FARMVILLE, Va. – Execution versus results. It's a distinction Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich has emphasized since he first took over the Lancer men's basketball program in March of 2018, and Monday night in Willett Hall, it's the reason he was encouraged by his team's performance in a hard-fought loss to UNC Asheville.
 
After pulling the game to within one possession inside the final five minutes, Longwood's comeback effort slipped away at the hands of Bulldogs guard DeVon Baker, who rattled off four consecutive three-pointers to lift the Bulldogs over a reenergized Longwood team 71-66 Monday evening at Willett Hall.
 
Baker finished with 19 points and put UNC Asheville (8-9, 2-4 Big South) on his back in the second half, scoring 14 points after halftime to fend off a Lancer squad that battled back from a seven-point deficit to cut the score to 64-62 with 4:17 to play. However, Baker responded by capping his solo 12-0 run with his fourth straight trey to push that lead back to five and give UNC Asheville a large enough cushion to ride to the final buzzer.
 
"We talk to our guys a lot about executing," Aldrich said. "In general in life and in any organization, you have to be focused on the execution. The outcomes will come from high-level execution. What will get us over the hump? Better execution is probably what I would say.
 
"I'm frustrated, disappointed and really upset for the guys. This is a game that I really asked them to play for one another and to work to be connected. These guys have had a heck of a stretch, and they're just battling right now. I'm really proud of them for continuing to show up every single day and try to get better. That's what we've said: We're going to continue to work to get better. Tonight we did."
 
Despite Baker's dagger of a three-pointer, Longwood (6-14, 1-5 Big South) battled back to trim the deficit to 69-66 on Phillips' three-pointer with one second to play, but Lavar Batts got loose for a buzzer-beating fastbreak dunk on the final possession to spoil Longwood's comeback effort.
 
The double-digit scoring game was Baker's 13th of the season and helped UNC Asheville overcome a resurgent Longwood team that held the offensive-minded Bulldogs to .435 (27-of-62) shooting from the field, their third-lowest clip of the Big South schedule. However, UNC Asheville stepped up defensively as well, holding Longwood without a field goal in the game's final four minutes until Phillips' last-second trey.
 
Phillips led Longwood with 16 points, JaShaun Smith added 13 and DeShaun Wade poured in 12. Longwood hit 10 three-pointers, including three from Phillips and two apiece from Smith, Wade and Juan Munoz.
 
"Tonight I felt like there was a spirit about them to play connected and play for one another," Aldrich said. "That's not all I can ask – I can ask for better execution – but that has to be the foundation of our program. That you're playing with passion, playing with energy and playing for one another. I thought we had a lot of that tonight. I don't know if you call it juice or whatever, but I thought we had that.
 
"Unfortunately there were too many stretches of poor execution, particularly on the offensive end. I thought we had a lot of good opportunities and then we made poor decisions, whether with an offensive charge or being careless with the basketball."
 
Longwood led 31-30 at halftime and was in front as late as 13:54 in the second half after a Phillips three-pointer. However, an 8-3 Asheville run put the Bulldogs ahead for good, and Baker came through down the stretch with his four consecutive treys that were all in response to Longwood buckets – including his last one that ballooned Asheville's 64-62 lead to 67-62 with 4:17 to play.
 
"The biggest thing I've been looking for from this team is a competitive spirit and life to compete and play for each other and as a team," Aldrich said. "I thought we had that tonight throughout the game. When you have that, you can start working on improving all the team things. If you're having to coach competitiveness and effort, you can't really worry about ball-screen defense and playing off two in the paint and all the other important things one must work on to be a high level team."
 
After playing three games in the past five days, Longwood will have several days to work on exactly that in preparation for this Saturday's road trip to High Point.
 
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