ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A pair of 18-point efforts from Tajion Jones and LJ Thorpe helped UNC Asheville build a cushion just large enough to withstand Longwood's late comeback and edge out the Lancers 73-71 Thursday evening at Kimmell Arena.
 
Thorpe and Jones combined for almost half of the Bulldogs' points to help UNC Asheville (11-13, 5-8 Big South) survive a second-half surge that saw Longwood cut a 12-point deficit to two in the final seven minutes of the game. However, Longwood's last attempt at tying the game in the final 16 seconds came up short as senior Shabooty Phillips, whose season-high eight assists generated 23 points, saw his two free throws rim out.
 
UNC Asheville became only the third team to defeat Longwood (10-17, 5-9 Big South) since Jan. 25, dealing the Lancers only their third loss in the past seven games. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs won their second straight at home to leapfrog the Lancers back into a top-eight spot in the Big South standings.
 
"This is the second game in a row we've started out down 8-0," said Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich. "We weren't ready to go. That first five minutes out there was passive. It was waiting to test the pace of the game, and Asheville was ready to play. We were going to just kind of tip-toe into it, and that's not going to work. We'll make some changes there, but we have to be ready to play. When they toss the ball up, we have to be ready to play and be the aggressor."
 
UNC Asheville opened the game with an 11-0 run, sparked by eight early points and a pair of three-pointers from Jones. Longwood spent the rest of the first half playing catch-up and nearly did so, settling for a 37-34 halftime deficit after freshman Heru Bligen hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. However, the Bulldogs jumped out of the gate again in the second half, rebuilding that lead to double digits at 63-51 with 7:06 to play.
 
"When you come out, you're not vocal, you're not connected and the gameplan was completely improperly run in those first five on the defensive end, you get yourself in a hole," Aldrich said. "That set the tone for the whole first half. You can tell I'm extremely upset about that.  
 
"Having said that, credit the guys for battling back. I didn't feel like we played well at all tonight, and to be in a two-point game at the end, in some ways that's very encouraging."
 
The Lancers woke up just after the clock ticked past the seven-minute mark and closed the gap with an 18-8 run. Christian Wilson sparked that comeback effort with three field goals during the rally as part of a 17-point night, but UNC Asheville's four double-figure scorers were enough to outpace that effort from Longwood's leading bench scorer. Along with the combined 36 from Jones and Thorpe, DeVon Baker added 15 points and Coty Jude 13.
 
"They're battling on the road, which is really hard to do," Aldrich said. "Asheville's a talented team and they have a lot of really good players, but I think our guys were committed to defending. You think about late in the game, we got three charges in that span, three stops. The story of the game though, at least on the defensive end, is we didn't guard the ball."
 
UNC Asheville, the No. 3 scoring team in the Big South, shot .596 (28-of-47) from the floor and .550 (11-of-20) from three-point range in the win. Both of those clips were season highs allowed by Longwood's top-tier Big South defense.
 
Despite UNC Asheville's efficiency from the floor, Longwood battled back to within one possession in the final minute. A three-point play from forward Jordan Cintron with 45 seconds remaining cut UNC Asheville's lead to 71-69, and an ensuing turnover and foul by Batts sent Phillips to the line with 16 seconds left. However, Phillips missed both attempts – the second one intentionally, in an attempt to generate an offensive rebound – in Longwood's last shot at tying the game.
 
Forced to foul with nine seconds left, Longwood sent Baker to the line, and he hit both free throws to stretch the lead back to four. A putback by Lancer freshman Heru Bligen at the buzzer cut the lead back to two, but the Bulldogs ran out the final 0.4 seconds on an in-bounds play to seal the win.
 
The win leaves just four regular-season games on Longwood's 2019-20 schedule, the next of which comes in less than 48 hours when Commonwealth rival Hampton comes to Willett Hall this Saturday for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
 
"It's a quick turnaround, but we'll have to get the guys rested to the extent possible," Aldrich said. "This is an unbelievably grueling schedule. Playing this many games in February is just really a lot on the guys. We'll do our best to get them some rest and recovery and then turn the page very quickly to Hampton."
 
Longwood will then hit the road for USC Upstate on Feb. 20 before returning to Farmville for the home finale against High Point on Feb. 22 and the regular-season finale at Presbyterian on Feb. 27.
 
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